Method and system for automated intellegent advertising on wearable devices

ABSTRACT

A method and system for automated intelligent advertising on wearable devices. The wearable devices includes digital eyewear, clothing, jewelry, watches, etc. Messages sent to an invalid alphanumeric identifier (e.g., WiFi addresses, e-mail address, text message address, social networking identifier, etc.) for a desired network service are returned including a notification that an attempt to connect to the desired network service has failed and also includes electronic advertising information that allows a network device to view and display a retrieved pre-determined advertisement or the dynamically generated advertisement and make a selection input to automatically connect to another network device associated with the retrieved pre-determined or dynamically advertisement to obtain additional electronic advertising information.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation-In-Part (CIP) of U.S. applicationSer. No. 13/832,374 filed Mar. 15, 2013, that issued at U.S. Pat. No.8,661,517, on Dec. 16, 2013, that is a CIP of Ser. No. 13/412,442, filedMar. 5, 2012, that issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,363,806 on Jan. 29, 2013,that is a CIP of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/636,211 filed on Dec. 8,2006, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,130,928, on Mar. 6, 2012, which isa CIP of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/303,903, filed Nov. 26, 2002 andis an application that claims priority to U.S. Provisional patentapplication 60/424,311, filed Nov. 7, 2002, which issued as U.S. Pat.No. 7,187,761. This application is ALSO a CIP of: U.S. application Ser.No. 12/781,465, filed May 17, 2010 that is a CIP of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/170,263, filed Jun. 29, 2005, that issued asU.S. Pat. No. 7,720,828, on May 18, 2010, that claims priority to U.S.Provisional Patent application 60/583,960, filed Jun. 29, 2004, thecontents of all of which are incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF INVENTION

This application relates to automatic processing of electronicinformation. More specifically, it relates to a method and system forautomated intelligent advertising.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The Internet and World-Wide-Web have changed the way organizationsconduct business. Virtually every organization has a web-site thatprovides information about the organization and a description of thegoods and/or services an organization may offer. As is known in the art,a “web-site” is group of related mark-up language documents andassociated graphics and multi-media files, scripts, and databases, etc.that are served up by a server on the World-Wide-Web via the Internet.Business organizations also provide an electronic commerce (e-commerce)interface that allows users to purchase goods and/or services from suchorganizations.

There are many different type of web-sites on a spectrum ranging fromvery simple to very complex. Designing, implementing and deploying aweb-site requires knowledge of markup languages such as Hyper TextMarkup Language (HTML), eXtensible Markup Language (XML), programminglanguages such as JAVA, C++, C#, computer graphics functionality,multi-media functionality, etc. A knowledge of communications protocolssuch as Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Transmission ControlProtocol (TCP), Internet Protocol (IP), e-mail protocols such as SimpleMail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), e-commerce protocols, encryption andother security protocols and many other types of protocols for variouskinds of web functionalities.

With the proliferation of cell phones and other technology, the payphoneand traditional telephone industry has seen a rapid decline in revenueincluding advertising revenues.

Wearable devices are becoming more popular. The calculator watch,introduced in the 1980s, was one of the original wearable devices. A fewother examples includes a Bluetooth headset in a pair of earrings with ahidden microphone, a “Spy Tie” with a color video camera, a “PocketTweet” with a Java application applying a TWITTER text bubble to aperson's shirt with Tweets, ZED-phones stitched headphones into beaniesand headbands allowing riders, snowboarders, drivers and runners to stayconnected, hands-free, etc.

Wearable technology has applications in monitoring and real-timefeedback for athletes as well. Transitioning to night life andentertainment industries electroluminescent shirts have appeared inconcerts SONY developed a “smart wig” This “Smartwig” includes a GlobalPositioning System (GPS), a camera and a laser pointer system andconnects to other devices.

The digital glasses, such as GOOGLE Glass, include prototypes fordigital eyewear with heads up display (HUD) are being developed. The USmilitary also employs headgear with displays for soldiers using atechnology called holographic optics.

Smart watches by SONY, NIKE, SAMSUNG, and others are additionalexamples. ABI Research forecasts about 1.2 million smart watches will beshipped in 2013 due to high penetration of smart phones in many worldmarkets, the wide availability and low cost of MicroElectroMechanicalSystems (MEMS) sensors, energy efficient connectivity technologies suchas Bluetooth 4.0, and a flourishing app ecosystem.

According to ABI Research due to the relative ease of compatibility withsmart phones and other electronic devices, the wearable technologiesmarket will likely spike to about 485 million annual device shipments by2018.

Commercial web-sites offer many different types of electronicadvertisements. The advertisements typically include electronic links toadvertiser's web-sites. There are many problems associated withdesigning, implementing and deploying advertising on a web-site.

Another problem is that many types of online advertising are consideredspam. Another problem is that pop-up advertising is being block byoperating systems such as Windows XP and add-on software. This pop-upblocking is becoming a standard feature in many operating systems.Another problem is that banner ads and pay-per-click ads are no longeran effective means of advertising online.

Electronic mail (e-mail) is one of the most common types of electronicinformation sent and received. E-mail is sent and received over publicnetworks such as the Internet, and many private networks such asintranets, local area networks (LAN), etc.

Advertisers and other information providers are always looking for newways to use existing technologies such as e-mail for advertising. Thereare many free e-mail services that routinely add advertising to user'se-mail as a condition of providing free e-mail. However, there is noeasy way to add advertising to e-mail. In addition, general e-mailadvertising is often considered spam.

One attempt to solve these problems is “Gmail” provided by Google. Gmailincludes a web-interface that displays e-mail. Electronic advertising isdisplayed on the web-interface that corresponds in part to content ofthe e-mail.

Another problem is that users change e-mail addresses frequently sincethere are many free and paid e-mail services available. There is hugenumber of e-mails sent to invalid or unavailable e-mail addresses.

Another problem is that wearable devices such as smart watches andwearable glasses are becoming popular. Such devices require networkconnections.

There have been attempts to solve some of the problems associated withelectronic advertising. U.S. Published Application No. 20020107730,entitled “Method and apparatus for identifying customers for delivery ofpromotional materials,” that was published by Bernstein discloses “amethod and apparatus are provided for identifying potential customersfor delivery of promotional materials. The method includes the steps offorming a customer profile by a vendor for targeting delivery of thepromotional materials to potential customers, identifying customerswhich match the customer profile within a database of a third party andforwarding promotional materials to the identified customers.

For example, U.S. Published Patent Application No. 20030231754, entitled“Telephone call redirection system,” that was published by Stein et al.discloses “telephone call redirection system for misdialed telephonenumbers is provided. When a caller physically and unintentionally dialsone of a set of first numbers subscribed to by the system, the systemrecognizes the number intended by the caller, and provides the callerwith the option of being redirected. If interested, the caller dialsanother number offered by the system to hear of the desired, intendednumber.”

U.S. Published Application No. 20030177063 entitled “Custom data ADS,”that was published by Currrans et al. discloses “aspects of the presentinvention provide methods, a computer system, a computer medium and anarticle of manufacture for generating personalized advertising toaccompany information to be sent to a user. In one embodiment, themethod includes the steps of maintaining, in memory, a plurality of userprofiles and a plurality of images associated with each user profile andselecting an image associated with the user. Next, the image is insertedinto advertising to provide personalized advertising.”

U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,407 that issued to He et al. entitled “System andmethod for selected audio response in a telecommunications network”teaches “a system and method for selected audio response to a telephonecall that results in an unsuccessful connection. If a condition withinthe set of conditions is satisfied based on attributes associated withthe caller or the telephone call, an action list associated with thesatisfied condition is executed. The action list can comprise a selectedaudio response that is transmitted to the caller of the unsuccessfulconnection.”

However, none of these attempts solve all of the problems associatedwith electronic advertising. Thus, it is desirable to provide a methodand system for improved advertising from network devices via cloudcomputing networks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with preferred embodiments of the invention, some of theproblems associated with electronic advertising are overcome. A methodand system for automated intelligent advertising on wearable devices ispresented.

The wearable devices includes digital eyewear, clothing, jewelry,watches, etc. Messages sent to an invalid alphanumeric identifier (e.g.,WiFi addresses, e-mail address, text message address, social networkingidentifier, etc.) for a desired network service are returned including anotification that an attempt to connect to the desired network servicehas failed and also includes electronic advertising information thatallows a network device to view and display a retrieved pre-determinedadvertisement or the dynamically generated advertisement and make aselection input to automatically connect to another network deviceassociated with the retrieved pre-determined or dynamicallyadvertisement to obtain additional electronic advertising information.

The foregoing and other features and advantages of preferred embodimentsof the present invention will be more readily apparent from thefollowing detailed description. The detailed description proceeds withreferences to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are described withreference to the following drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary electronicinformation processing system;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for number indexing foradvertising;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for using indexedalphanumeric identifiers;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary cloud communicationsnetwork;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary cloud storageobject;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are a flow diagram illustrating a method foralphanumeric identifier indexing for advertising with cloud computing;

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for alpha numericidentifier indexing for advertising with cloud computing;

FIGS. 8A, 8B and 8C are a flow diagram illustrating a method foralphanumeric identifier indexing for advertising with cloud computing;

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for automated intelligentadvertising;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating wearable devices; and

FIGS. 11A and 11B are a flow diagram illustrating a method for automatedintelligent advertising on wearable devices.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Exemplary Electronic Information Message Processing System

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary electronicinformation system 10. The exemplary electronic information messageprocessing system 10 includes, but is not limited to, one or more targetnetwork devices 12, 14, 16 (only three of which are illustrated) eachwith one or more processors.

The one or more target network devices 12, 14, 16 include, but are notlimited to, multimedia capable desktop and laptop computers, tabletcomputers, facsimile machines, mobile phones, non-mobile phones, smartphones, Internet phones, Internet appliances, personal digital/dataassistants (PDA), two-way pagers, digital cameras, portable gameconsoles (Play Station Portable by Sony, Game Boy by Sony, Nintendo DSI,etc.), non-portable game consoles (Xbox by Microsoft, Play Station bySony, Wii by Nintendo, etc.), cable television (CATV) set-top boxes,satellite television boxes, digital televisions including highdefinition television (HDTV), three-dimensional (3D) televisions andother types of network devices.

The one or more target network devices 12, 14, 16 also include smartphones (e.g., 12′, etc.) such as the iPhone by Apple, Inc., BlackberryStorm and other Blackberry models by Research In Motion, Inc. (RIM),Droid by Motorola, Inc. HTC, Inc. other types of smart phones, etc.However, the present invention is not limited to such smart phonedevices, and more, fewer or other devices can be used to practice theinvention.

A “smart phone” is a mobile phone that offers more advanced computingability and connectivity than a contemporary basic feature phone. Smartphones and feature phones may be thought of as handheld computersintegrated with a mobile telephone, but while most feature phones areable to run applications based on platforms such as Java ME, a smartphone usually allows the user to install and run more advancedapplications. Smart phones and/or tablet computers run completeoperating system software providing a platform for applicationdevelopers.

The operating systems include the iPhone OS, Android, Windows, etc.iPhone OS is a proprietary operating system for the Apple iPhone.Andriod is an open source operating system platform backed by Google,along with major hardware and software developers (such as Intel, HTC,ARM, Motorola and Samsung, etc.), that form the Open Handset Alliance.

The one or more target network devices 12, 14, 16 also include tabletcomputers (e.g., 12″, etc.) such as the iPad, by Apple, Inc., the HPTablet, by Hewlett Packard, Inc., the Playbook, by RIM, Inc., theTablet, by Sony, Inc.

The target network devices 12, 14, 16 are in communications with acommunications network 18. The communications network 18 includes, butis not limited to, a cloud computing network 18 including one or moreportions of the Internet, an intranet, a wired Local Area Network (LAN),a wireless LAN (WiLAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a Metropolitan AreaNetwork (MAN), Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and other typesof wired and wireless communications networks providing voice, video anddata communications with wired or wireless communication protocols.

Plural server network devices (source network devices) 20, 22, 24 (onlythree of which are illustrated) each with one or more processors includeone or more associated databases 20′, 22′, 24′. The plural sourcenetwork devices 20, 22, 24 are in communications with the one or moretarget network devices 12, 14, 16 via the communications network 18. Theplural source network devices 20, 22, 24, include, but are not limitedto, electronic mail (e-mail) servers, World Wide Web servers, Internetservers, file servers, other types of electronic information servers,and other types of server network devices (e.g., edge servers,firewalls, routers, gateways, switches, etc.).

The communications network 18 may include one or more gateways, routers,bridges, switches. As is known in the art, a gateway connects computernetworks using different network protocols and/or operating at differenttransmission capacities. A router receives transmitted messages andforwards them to their correct destinations over the most efficientavailable route. A bridge is a device that connects networks using thesame communications protocols so that information can be passed from onenetwork device to another. A switch is a device that filters andforwards packets between network segments. Switches typically operate atthe data link layer and sometimes the network layer and thereforesupport virtually any packet protocol.

In one embodiment, the target network devices 12, 14, 16 and the sourcenetwork devices 20, 22, 24 include an advertising application 26 withplural software modules. The advertising application 26 further includesa cloud application 27. The plural target network devices 12, 14, 16 mayalso include a plug-in 28 for a browser with plural software moduleswhich communicates with applications 26 and 27. The multiple softwaremodules may be implemented in firmware, hardware or any combinationthereof. In one embodiment, the target network devices 12, 14, 16 mayinclude a plug-in 28 for a browser with plural software modules.

The one or more target network devices 12, 14, 16 and one or more servernetwork devices 20, 22, 24 may communicate with each other and othernetwork devices with near field communications (NFC) and/ormachine-to-machine (M2M) communications.

“Near field communication (NFC)” is a set of standards for smartphonesand similar devices to establish radio communication with each other bytouching them together or bringing them into close proximity, usually nomore than a few centimeters. Present and anticipated applicationsinclude contactless transactions, data exchange, and simplified setup ofmore complex communications such as Wi-Fi. Communication is alsopossible between an NFC device and an unpowered NFC chip, called a “tag”including radio frequency identifier (RFID) tags.

NFC standards cover communications protocols and data exchange formats,and are based on existing radio-frequency identification (RFID)standards including ISO/IEC 14443 and FeliCa. These standards includeISO/IEC 1809 and those defined by the NFC Forum, all of which areincorporated by reference.

“Machine to machine (M2M)” refers to technologies that allow bothwireless and wired systems to communicate with other devices of the sameability. M2M uses a device to capture an event (such as option purchase,etc.), which is relayed through a network (wireless, wired cloud, etc.)to an application (software program), that translates the captured eventinto meaningful information. Such communication was originallyaccomplished by having a remote network of machines relay informationback to a central hub for analysis, which would then be rerouted into asystem like a personal computer.

However, modern M2M communication has expanded beyond a one-to-oneconnection and changed into a system of networks that transmits datamany-to-one and many-to-many to plural different types of devices andappliances. The expansion of IP networks across the world has made itfar easier for M2M communication to take place and has lessened theamount of power and time necessary for information to be communicatedbetween machines.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention include network devicesand interfaces that are compliant with all or part of standards proposedby the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE),International Telecommunications Union-Telecommunication StandardizationSector (ITU), European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI),Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), U.S. National Institute ofSecurity Technology (NIST), American National Standard Institute (ANSI),Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) Forum, Data Over Cable ServiceInterface Specification (DOCSIS) Forum, Bluetooth Forum, or the ADSLForum. However, network devices based on other standards could also beused.

A non-mobile target network device (e.g., a payphone, etc.), includes asmart chip with plural software modules in communications with thecommunications network 18. In one embodiment the smart chip isprogrammed specifically for a home geographic area for the targetnetwork device. In another embodiment, the target network device ismobile. As the target network device is moved to a new geographic area,the smart chip communicates with the communications network 18 toreceive dynamic advertising information that is based on the geographicarea.

The communications network 18 may also include one or more servers oraccess points (AP) including wired and wireless access points (WAP) (notillustrated).

The communications network 18 includes data networks using theTransmission Control Protocol (TCP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP),Internet Protocol (IP) and other data protocols.

The communications network 18 may also include wired interfacesconnecting portions of a PSTN or cable television network that connectthe network devices 12, 14, 16 via one or more twisted pairs of copperwires, coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, other connection media or otherconnection interfaces. The PSTN is any public switched telephone networkprovided by AT&T, GTE, Sprint, MCI, SBC, Verizon and others.

An operating environment for network devices and interfaces of thepresent invention include a processing system with one or more highspeed Central Processing Unit(s) (“CPU”) or other types of processorsand a memory. In accordance with the practices of persons skilled in theart of computer programming, the present invention is described belowwith reference to acts and symbolic representations of operations orinstructions that are performed by the processing system, unlessindicated otherwise. Such acts and operations or instructions arereferred to as being “computer-executed,” “CPU executed” or “processorexecuted.”

It will be appreciated that acts and symbolically represented operationsor instructions include the manipulation of electrical signals by theCPU. An electrical system represents data bits which cause a resultingtransformation or reduction of the electrical signals, and themaintenance of data bits at memory locations in a memory system tothereby reconfigure or otherwise alter the CPU's operation, as well asother processing of signals. The memory locations where data bits aremaintained are physical locations that have particular electrical,magnetic, optical, or organic properties corresponding to the data bits.

The data bits may also be maintained on a computer readable mediumincluding magnetic disks, optical disks, organic memory, and any othervolatile (e.g., Random Access Memory (“RAM”)) or non-volatile (e.g.,Read-Only Memory (“ROM”)) mass storage system readable by the CPU. Thecomputer readable medium includes cooperating or interconnected computerreadable medium, which exist exclusively on the processing system or bedistributed among multiple interconnected processing systems that may belocal or remote to the processing system.

The Open Systems Interconnection (“OSI”) reference model is a layeredarchitecture that standardizes levels of service and types ofinteraction for network devices exchanging information through acommunications network. The OSI reference model separates networkdevice-to-network device communications into seven protocol layers, orlevels, each building- and relying—upon the standards contained in thelevels below it. The OSI reference model includes fromlowest-to-highest, a physical, data-link, network, transport, session,presentation and application layer. The lowest of the seven layers dealssolely with hardware links; the highest deals with software interactionsat the application-program level.

The Internet Protocol reference model is a layered architecture thatstandardizes levels of service for the Internet Protocol suite ofprotocols. The Internet Protocol reference model comprises in generalfrom lowest-to-highest, a link, network, transport and applicationlayer.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the wired and wirelessinterfaces include wired and wireless interfaces and correspondingnetworking protocols for wired connections to the communications network18 including, a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) or a cabletelevision network (CATV) including HDTV that connect the target networkdevices 12, 14, 16 via one or more twisted pairs of copper wires,digital subscriber lines (e.g. DSL, ADSL, VDSL, etc.) coaxial cable,fiber optic cable, other connection media or other wired connectioninterfaces. The PSTN is any public switched telephone network providedby AT&T, GTE, Sprint, MCI, SBC, Verizon and others.

The communications network 18 may also include a paging and wirelessmessaging network, a wireless cellular telephone network, a PacketCellular Network (PCN), Global System for Mobile Communications, (GSM),Generic Packet Radio Services (GPRS), network/Personal CommunicationsServices network (PCS), a Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD), WirelessApplication Protocol (WAP), Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) network orother types of computer networks.

The wireless cellular telephone network includes, but is not limited toCode Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access(TDMA), or other wireless technologies.

PCS networks include network that cover a range of wireless, digitalcommunications technologies and services, including cordless phones,mobile phones, voice mail, paging, faxing, mobile personal digital/dataassistants (PDAs), etc. PCS devices are typically divided intonarrowband and broadband categories.

Narrowband devices, which operates in the 900 MHz band of frequencies,typically provide paging, data messaging, faxing, and one- and two-wayelectronic messaging capabilities. Broadband devices, which operate inthe 1850 MHz to 1990 MHz range typically provide two-way voice, data,and video communications. Other wireless technologies such as GSM, CDMAand TDMA are typically included in the PCS category.

GSM is another type of digital wireless technology widely usedthroughout Europe, in Australia, India, Africa, Asia, and the MiddleEast. GSM is gaining popularity in the United States. GSM is a wirelessplatform based on TDMA to digitize data. GSM includes not only telephonyand Short Message Services (SMS) but also voice mail, call forwarding,fax, caller ID, Internet access, and e-mail.

SMS is type of communications service that enables a user to allowprivate message communications with another user. GSM typically operatesat three frequency ranges: 900 MHz (GSM 900) in Europe, Asia and most ofthe rest of the world; 1800 MHz (GSM 1800 or DCS 1800 or DCS) in a fewEuropean countries; and 1900 MHz (GSM 1900 also called PCS 1900 or PCS)in the United States. GSM also operates in a dual-band mode including900/1800 Mhz and a tri-band mode include 900/1800/1900 Mhz.

GPRS is a standard for wireless communications, which runs at speeds upto 150 kilo-bits-per-second (“kbit/s”). GPRS, which supports a widerange of bandwidths is an efficient use of limited bandwidth and isparticularly suited for sending and receiving small bursts of data suchas e-mail and Web browsing, as well as large volumes of data.

CDPD is a wireless standard providing two-way, 19.2-Kbps or higherpacket data transmission over existing cellular telephone channels. Asis known in the art, a Packet Cellular Network (PCN) includes varioustypes of packetized cellular data.

In one embodiment, of the invention, the wireless interfaces includeWPAN wireless personal area network (WPAN) interfaces. As is known inthe art, a WPAN is a personal area network for interconnecting devicescentered around an individual person's devices in which the connectionsare wireless. A WPAN interconnects all the ordinary computing andcommunicating devices that a person has on their desk (e.g. computer,etc.) or carry with them (e.g., PDA, wearable device, mobile phone,two-way pager, etc.)

Typically, a wireless personal area network uses some technology thatpermits communication only within about 10 meters. One such technologyis “Bluetooth.” Another such technology is “Zigbee.”

A key concept in WPAN technology is known as “plugging in.” In the idealscenario, when any two WPAN-equipped devices come into close proximity(within several meters of each other) or within a few kilometers of acentral server (not illustrated), they can communicate via wirelesscommunications as if connected by a cable. WPAN devices can also lockout other devices selectively, preventing needless interference orunauthorized access to secure information.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the wireless interfacesinclude but are not limited to, an IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g,802.11n, 802.15.4 (ZigBee), 802.16a, 802.16g, “Wireless Fidelity”(WiFi), “Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access” (WiMAX), ETSIHigh Performance Radio Metropolitan Area Network (HIPERMAN) “RF Home,”or other types of wireless interfaces. However, the present invention isnot limited to such wireless interface and other types of wirelessinterfaces can also be used.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the target networkdevices 14, 16 include a wireless sensor device that comprises anintegral or separate Bluetooth and/or infra data association (IrDA)module for wireless Bluetooth or wireless infrared communications.

802.11b is a short-range wireless network standard. The IEEE 802.11bstandard defines wireless interfaces that provide up to 11 Mbps wirelessdata transmission to and from wireless devices over short ranges.802.11a is an extension of the 802.11b and can deliver speeds up to 54Mbps. 802.11g deliver speeds on par with 802.11a. However, other 802.11xxinterfaces can also be used and the present invention is not limited tothe 802.11 protocols defined. The IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11gstandards are incorporated herein by reference.

WiFi is a type of 802.11xx interface, whether 802.11b, 802.11a,dual-band, etc. WiFi devices include an RF interfaces such as 2.4 GHzfor 802.11b or 802.11g and 5 GHz for 802.11a.

802.15.4 (Zigbee) is low data rate network standard used for meshnetwork devices such as sensors, interactive toys, smart badges, remotecontrols, and home automation. The 802.15.4 standard provides data ratesof 250 kbps, 40 kbps, and 20 kbps, two addressing modes; 16-bit shortand 64-bit IEEE addressing, support for critical latency devices, suchas joysticks, Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance,(CSMA-CA) channel access, automatic network establishment by acoordinator, fully handshaked protocol for transfer reliability, powermanagement to ensure low power consumption for multi-month to multi-yearbattery usage and up to 16 channels in the 2.4 GHz Industrial,Scientific and Medical (ISM) band (Worldwide), 10 channels in the 915MHz (US) and one channel in the 868 MHz band (Europe). The IEEE802.15.4-2003 standard is incorporated herein by reference.

WiMAX is an industry trade organization formed by leading communicationscomponent and equipment companies to promote and certify compatibilityand interoperability of broadband wireless access equipment thatconforms to the IEEE 802.16XX and ETSI HIPERMAN. HIPERMAN is theEuropean standard for metropolitan area networks (MAN).

The IEEE The 802.16a and 802.16g standards are wireless MAN technologystandard that provides a wireless alternative to cable, DSL and T1/E1for last mile broadband access. It is also used as complimentarytechnology to connect IEEE 802.11XX hot spots to the Internet.

The IEEE 802.16a standard for 2-11 GHz is a wireless MAN technology thatprovides broadband wireless connectivity to fixed, portable and nomadicdevices. It provides up to 50-kilometers of service area range, allowsusers to get broadband connectivity without needing direct line of sightwith the base station, and provides total data rates of up to 280 Mbpsper base station, which is enough bandwidth to simultaneously supporthundreds of businesses with T1/E1-type connectivity and thousands ofhomes with DSL-type connectivity with a single base station. The IEEE802.16g provides up to 100 Mbps.

The IEEE 802.16e standard is an extension to the approved IEEE802.16/16a/16g standard. The purpose of 802.16e is to add limitedmobility to the current standard which is designed for fixed operation.

The ESTI HIPERMAN standard is an interoperable broadband fixed wirelessaccess standard for systems operating at radio frequencies between 2 GHzand 11 GHz.

The IEEE 802.16a, 802.16e and 802.16g standards are incorporated hereinby reference. WiMAX can be used to provide a WLP.

The ETSI HIPERMAN standards TR 101 031, TR 101 475, TR 101 493-1 throughTR 101 493-3, TR 101 761-1 through TR 101 761-4, TR 101 762, TR 101763-1 through TR 101 763-3 and TR 101 957 are incorporated herein byreference. ETSI HIPERMAN can be used to provide a WLP.

Bluetooth is a short-range radio frequency technology aimed atsimplifying communications among network devices and between networkdevices. Bluetooth wireless technology supports both short-rangepoint-to-point and point-to-multipoint connections. The BluetoothSpecification, GL 11r02, March 2005, prepared by the Bluetooth SIG, Inc.is incorporated herein by reference.

High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) is an enhanced 3G(third-generation) mobile-telephony communications protocol in theHigh-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) family, also dubbed 3.5G, 3G+ or turbo3G, which allows networks based on Universal Mobile TelecommunicationsSystem (UMTS) to have higher data-transfer speeds and capacity. As of2013 HSDPA deployments can support down-link speeds of up to 42.2Mbit/s. HSP+ offers further speed increases, providing speeds of up to337.5 Mbit/s with Release 11 of the 3GPP standards.

The target devices 12, 14, 16 include a protocol stack with multiplelayers based on the Internet Protocol or OSI reference model. Theprotocol stack includes, but is not limited to, TCP, UDP, IP, HypertextTransfer Protocol (HTTP), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), PostOffice Protocol version 3 (POP3), Internet Mail Access Protocol (IMAP),Voice-Over-IP (VoIP), instant-messaging (IM) and other protocols.

TCP provides a connection-oriented, end-to-end reliable protocoldesigned to fit into a layered hierarchy of protocols that supportmulti-network applications. For more information on TCP 58 see RFC-793,incorporated herein by reference.

UDP provides a connectionless mode of communications with datagrams inan interconnected set of networks. For more information on UDP see ITEFRFC-768, incorporated herein by reference.

IP is an addressing protocol designed to route traffic within a networkor between networks. For more information on IP 54 see IETF RFC-791,incorporated herein by reference.

HTTP is a standard protocol for communications on the World Wide Web.For more information on HTTP, see IETF RFC-2616, incorporated herein byreference.

SMTP is a protocol for sending e-mail messages between devices includinge-mail servers. For more information on SMTP, see IETF RFC-821 andRFC-2821, incorporated herein by reference.

POP3 is a protocol for a protocol used to retrieve e-mail from a mailserver. For more information on POP3, see IETF RFC-1939, incorporatedherein by reference.

IMAP is a protocol for retrieving e-mail messages from a server. Formore information on IMAP, see IETF RFC-1730, incorporated herein byreference.

VoIP is a set of facilities for managing the delivery of voiceinformation using IP 28 packets. In general, VoIP is used to send voiceinformation in digital form in discrete data packets (i.e., IP 28packets) over data networks 18 rather than using traditionalcircuit-switched protocols used on the PSTN. VoIP is used on bothwireless and wired data networks.

VoIP typically comprises several applications (e.g., SIP, SLP, H.323,H.324, DNS, AAA, etc.) that convert a voice signal into a stream ofpackets (e.g., IP 28 packets) on a packet network and back again. VoIPallows voice signals to travel over a stream of data packets over acommunications network 18.

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) supports user mobility by proxying andre-directing requests to a mobile node's current location. Mobile nodescan register their current location. SIP is not tied to any particularconference control protocol. SIP is designed to be independent of alower-layer transport protocol and can be extended. For more informationon SIP, see IETF RFC-2543, the contents of which are incorporated hereinby reference.

Service Location Protocol (SLP) provides a scalable framework for thediscovery and selection of network services. Using SLP, network devicesusing the Internet need little or no static configuration of networkservices for network based applications. For more information on SLP seeIETF RFC-2608, incorporated herein by reference.

As is known in the art, H.323 is one of main family of videoconferencing recommendations for IP networks. The ITU-T H.323 standardsentitled “Packet-based multimedia communications systems” dated 02/98,09/99, 11/00 and 07/03 are incorporated herein by reference.

As is known in the art, H.324 is a video conferencing recommendationusing Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) lines. The ITU-T H.324standards entitled “Terminal for low bit-rate multimedia communication”dated 02/98 and 03/02 are incorporated herein by reference.

As is known in the art, a Domain Name System (DNS) provides replicateddistributed secure hierarchical databases that hierarchically storeresource records under domain names. For more information on the DNS seeIETF RFC-1034, RFC-1035, RFC-1591, RFC-2606 and RFC-2929, the contentsof all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

As is known in the art, Authentication Authorization and Accounting(AAA) includes a classification scheme and exchange format foraccounting data records (e.g., for call billing, etc.). For moreinformation on AAA applications, see, IETF RFC-2924, the contents ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference.

VoIP services typically need to be able to connect to traditionalcircuit-switched voice networks such as those provided by the PSTN.Thus, VoIP is typically used with the H.323 protocol and othermultimedia protocols. H.323 and H.324 terminals such as multimediacomputers, handheld devices, PDAs or other devices such as non-mobileand mobile phones connect to existing wired and wireless communicationsnetworks 18 as well as private wired and wireless networks.

H.323 and H.324 terminals implement voice transmission functions andtypically include at least one voice codec (e.g., ITU-T CODECS, G.711,G.723, G.726, G.728, G.729, GSM, etc.) that sends and receivespacketized voice data and typically at least one video codec (e.g.,MPEG, etc.) that sends and receives packetized video data).

An Instant Message (IM) is a “short,” real-time or near-real-timemessage that is sent between two or more end user devices such(computers, personal digital/data assistants (PDAs) mobile phones, etc.)running IM client applications. An IM is typically a short textualmessage. Examples of IM messages include America Online's Instant (AIM)messaging service, Microsoft Network (MSN) Messenger, Yahoo Messenger,and Lycos ICQ Instant Messenger, IM services provided by telecomproviders such as T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, and others that provide IMservices via the Internet and other wired and wireless communicationsnetworks. In one embodiment of the present invention, the IM protocolsused meet the requirements of Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)Request For Comments (RFC)-2779, entitled “Instant Messaging/PresenceProtocol Requirements.” However, the present invention is not limited tosuch an embodiment and other IM protocols not compliant with IETF RFC2779 may also be used.

Security and Encryption

Devices and interfaces of the present invention include plural securityand/or encryption methods for secure communications via the computernetwork 18. Wireless Encryption Protocol (WEP) (also called “WiredEquivalent Privacy) is a security protocol for WiLANs defined in theIEEE 802.11b standard. WEP is cryptographic privacy algorithm, based onthe Rivest Cipher 4 (RC4) encryption engine, used to provideconfidentiality for 802.11b wireless data.

As is known in the art, RC4 is cipher designed by RSA Data Security,Inc. of Bedford, Mass., which can accept encryption keys of arbitrarylength, and is essentially a pseudo random number generator with anoutput of the generator being XORed with a data stream to produceencrypted data.

One problem with WEP is that it is used at the two lowest layers of theOSI model, the physical layer and the data link layer, therefore, itdoes not offer end-to-end security. One another problem with WEP is thatits encryption keys are static rather than dynamic. To update WEPencryption keys, an individual has to manually update a WEP key. WEPalso typically uses 40-bit static keys for encryption and thus provides“weak encryption,” making a WEP device a target of hackers.

The IEEE 802.11 Working Group is working on a security upgrade for the802.11 standard called “802.11i.” This supplemental draft standard isintended to improve WiLAN security. It describes the encryptedtransmission of data between systems 802.11X WiLANs. It also defines newencryption key protocols including the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol(TKIP). The IEEE 802.11i draft standard, version 4, completed Jun. 6,2003, is incorporated herein by reference.

The 802.11i is based on 802.1x port-based authentication for user anddevice authentication. The 802.11i standard includes two maindevelopments: Wireless or Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and RobustSecurity Network (RSN).

WPA uses the same RC4 underlying encryption algorithm as WEP. However,WPA uses TKIP to improve security of keys used with WEP. WPA keys arederived and rotated more often than WEP keys and thus provide additionalsecurity. WPA also adds a message-integrity-check function to preventpacket forgeries.

RSN uses dynamic negotiation of authentication and selectable encryptionalgorithms between wireless access points and wireless devices. Theauthentication schemes proposed in the draft standard include ExtensibleAuthentication Protocol (EAP). One proposed encryption algorithm is anAdvanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption algorithm.

Dynamic negotiation of authentication and encryption algorithms lets RSNevolve with the state of the art in security, adding algorithms toaddress new threats and continuing to provide the security necessary toprotect information that WiLANs carry.

The NIST developed a new encryption standard, the Advanced EncryptionStandard (AES) to keep government information secure. AES is intended tobe a stronger, more efficient successor to Triple Data EncryptionStandard (3DES).

DES is a popular symmetric-key encryption method developed in 1975 andstandardized by ANSI in 1981 as ANSI X.3.92, the contents of which areincorporated herein by reference. As is known in the art, 3DES is theencrypt-decrypt-encrypt (EDE) mode of the DES cipher algorithm. 3DES isdefined in the ANSI standard, ANSI X9.52-1998, the contents of which areincorporated herein by reference. DES modes of operation are used inconjunction with the NIST Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS)for data encryption (FIPS 46-3, October 1999), the contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

The NIST approved a FIPS for the AES, FIPS-197. This standard specified“Rijndael” encryption as a FIPS-approved symmetric encryption algorithmthat may be used by U.S. Government organizations (and others) toprotect sensitive information. The NIST FIPS-197 standard (AES FIPS PUB197, November 2001) is incorporated herein by reference.

The NIST approved a FIPS for U.S. Federal Government requirements forinformation technology products for sensitive but unclassified (SBU)communications. The NIST FIPS Security Requirements for CryptographicModules (FIPS PUB 140-2, May 2001) is incorporated herein by reference.

RSA is a public key encryption system which can be used both forencrypting messages and making digital signatures. The letters RSA standfor the names of the inventors: Rivest, Shamir and Adleman. For moreinformation on RSA, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,405,829, now expired,incorporated herein by reference.

“Hashing” is the transformation of a string of characters into a usuallyshorter fixed-length value or key that represents the original string.Hashing is used to index and retrieve items in a database because it isfaster to find the item using the shorter hashed key than to find itusing the original value. It is also used in many encryption algorithms.

Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA), is used for computing a secure condensedrepresentation of a data message or a data file. When a message of anylength<2⁶⁴ bits is input, the SHA-1 produces a 160-bit output called a“message digest.” The message digest can then be input to other securitytechniques such as encryption, a Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA) andothers which generates or verifies a security mechanism for the message.SHA-512 outputs a 512-bit message digest. The Secure Hash Standard, FIPSPUB 180-1, Apr. 17, 1995, is incorporated herein by reference.

Message Digest-5 (MD-5) takes as input a message of arbitrary length andproduces as output a 128-bit “message digest” of the input. The MD5algorithm is intended for digital signature applications, where a largefile must be “compressed” in a secure manner before being encrypted witha private (secret) key under a public-key cryptosystem such as RSA. TheIETF RFC-1321, entitled “The MD5 Message-Digest Algorithm” isincorporated here by reference.

Providing a way to check the integrity of information transmitted overor stored in an unreliable medium such as a wireless network is a primenecessity in the world of open computing and communications. Mechanismsthat provide such integrity check based on a secret key are called“message authentication codes” (MACS). Typically, message authenticationcodes are used between two parties that share a secret key in order tovalidate information transmitted between these parties.

Keyed Hashing for Message Authentication Codes (HMAC), is a mechanismfor message authentication using cryptographic hash functions. HMAC isused with any iterative cryptographic hash function, e.g., MD5, SHA-1,SHA-512, etc. in combination with a secret shared key. The cryptographicstrength of HMAC depends on the properties of the underlying hashfunction. The IETF RFC-2101, entitled “HMAC: Keyed-Hashing for MessageAuthentication” is incorporated here by reference.

Electronic Code Book (ECB) is a mode of operation for a “block cipher,”with the characteristic that each possible block of plaintext has adefined corresponding cipher text value and vice versa. In other words,the same plaintext value will always result in the same cipher textvalue. Electronic Code Book is used when a volume of plaintext isseparated into several blocks of data, each of which is then encryptedindependently of other blocks. The Electronic Code Book has the abilityto support a separate encryption key for each block type.

Diffie and Hellman (DH) describe several different group methods for twoparties to agree upon a shared secret in such a way that the secret willbe unavailable to eavesdroppers. This secret is then converted intovarious types of cryptographic keys. A large number of the variants ofthe DH method exist including ANSI X9.42. The IETF RFC-2631, entitled“Diffie-Hellman Key Agreement Method” is incorporated here by reference.

However, the present invention is not limited to the security orencryption techniques described and other security or encryptiontechniques can also be used.

The HyperText Transport Protocol (HTTP) Secure (HTTPs), is a standardfor encrypted communications on the World Wide Web. HTTPs is actuallyjust HTTP over a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). For more information onHTTP, see IETF RFC-2616 incorporated herein by reference.

The SSL protocol is a protocol layer which may be placed between areliable connection-oriented network layer protocol (e.g. TCP/IP) andthe application protocol layer (e.g. HTTP). SSL provides for securecommunication between a source and destination by allowing mutualauthentication, the use of digital signatures for integrity, andencryption for privacy.

The SSL protocol is designed to support a range of choices for specificsecurity methods used for cryptography, message digests, and digistalsignatures. The security method are negotiated between the source anddestingation at the start of establishing a protocol session. The SSL2.0 protocol specification, by Kipp E.B. Hickman, 1995 is incorporatedherein by reference.

As is known in the art, Transport Layer Security (TLS) providescommunications privacy over the Internet. The protocol allowsclient/server applications to communicate over a transport layer (e.g.,TCP) in a way that is designed to prevent eavesdropping, tampering, ormessage forgery. For more information on TLS see IETF RFC-2246,incorporated herein by reference.

In one embodiment, the security functionality includes Cisco CompatibleEXtensions (CCX). CCX includes security specifications for makers of802.1 lxx wireless LAN chips for ensuring compliance with Cisco'sproprietary wireless security LAN protocols. As is known in the art,Cisco Systems, Inc. of San Jose, Calif. is supplier of networkinghardware and software, including router and security products.

Alphanumeric Identifier Indexing for Advertising

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a Method 25 for automaticallyindexing alphanumeric identifiers. At Step 28, plural alphanumericidentifiers are received on a source network device via a communicationsnetwork. At Step 30, the plural alphanumeric identifiers are categorizedinto plural pre-determined advertising categories. At Step 32, thecategorized plural alphanumeric identifiers are stored in a databaseassociated with a source network device. At Step 34, a pre-determinedadvertisement is associated with the plural categorized alphanumericidentifiers.

Method 27 is illustrated with one exemplary embodiment. However, thepresent invention is not limited to such an embodiment and otherembodiments can also be used to practice the invention.

At Step 28, plural alphanumeric identifiers are received on a sourcenetwork device 20, 22, 24 via a communications network 18.

In one embodiment the alphanumeric identifier includes telephonenumbers, instant message identifiers, or e-mail address identifiers,VoIP identifiers or IP identifiers.

In one embodiment, the plural alphanumeric identifiers are received onthe source network device 20, 22, 24, in a bulk transfer from analphanumeric identifier supplier (e.g., telephone service provider,instant message provider, e-mail provider, VoIP service provider, etc.)before any individual alphanumeric identifiers are received on thecommunications network 18.

In another embodiment, the plural alphanumeric identifiers are notreceived ahead of time but instead are dynamically received on thesource network device 20, 22, 24 as they are received on thecommunications network 18.

At Step 30, the plural alphanumeric identifiers are categorized intoplural pre-determined advertising categories. For examples,pre-determined advertising categories are created for virtually any typeof goods, services, public service announcements, politicaladvertisements, etc.

At Step 32, the categorized plural alphanumeric identifiers are storedin a database 20′, 22′, 24′ associated with a source network device 20,22, 24. In one embodiment, the database 20′, 22′, 24′ uses advertisingcategories identical to those provided by a telephone service provider(e.g., yellow pages categories, etc.). In another embodiment, thedatabase 20′, 22′, 24′ uses other types of pre-determined advertisingcategories such as disconnected numbers, etc.

At Step 34, a pre-determined advertisement is associated with the pluralcategorized alphanumeric identifiers. The database 20′, 22′ 24′ is usedto track and match advertising for the pre-determined advertisingcategories.

In one embodiment, the pre-determined advertisement includes a recordedaudio, video, graphical or electronic text advertisement.

In one embodiment, the pre-determined advertisements are sold to oneadvertiser for an advertising category. For example, for pizzarestaurants, Domino's Pizza my purchase all advertising for pizzarestaurants. Any alphanumeric identifiers received and categorized forpizza restaurants would be associated with Domino's Pizza advertising.

In another embodiment, the pre-determined advertisements are sold toplural advertisers for advertising categories. In such an embodiment,the pre-determined advertisements are associated based on a number ofpre-determined methods such as round-robin method, a weighted method,depending on an amount of advertising purchased, etc.

Using Alphanumeric Identifier Indexing for Advertising

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a Method 38 for using indexedalphanumeric identifiers. At Step 40, an alphanumeric identifier isreceived from a target device on a communications network. At Step 42,an advertising category being queried by the alphanumeric identifier isdetermined. At Step 44, a pre-determined advertisement is retrieved forthe determined advertising category. At Step 46, a message is sent tothe target device. The message allows the target device to receiveinformation based on the alphanumeric identifier or receive thepre-determined advertisement instead.

Method 38 is illustrated with one exemplary embodiment. However, thepresent invention is not limited to such an embodiment and otherembodiments can also be used to practice the invention.

In such an exemplary embodiment at Step 40, an alphanumeric identifieris received from a target device 12, 14, 16 on source network device 20,22, 24 via a communications network 18. In one embodiment thealphanumeric identifier includes telephone numbers, instant messageidentifiers, or e-mail address identifiers, VoIP identifiers or IPidentifiers.

At Step 42, an advertising category being queried by the alphanumericidentifier is determined using a database 20′, 22′ 24′ associated withthe source network device 20, 22, 24. For example, if a caller dialed555-555-5555, on a mobile phone and the subscriber to that number wasPizza Hut, the source network device 20, 22, 24 on the communicationsnetwork 18 would categorize that number as a restaurant, or morespecifically, a pizza restaurant by sending the dialed number to anassociated database 20′, 22′ 24′.

At Step 44, a pre-determined advertisement is selected for theadvertising category from the database 20′, 22′ or 24′. For example, thesource network device 20, 22, 24 matches the advertising categoryincluding restaurant information (e.g., a pizza restaurant, etc.) to aspecific relevant pre-determined advertisement that is recorded andstored in a corresponding database 20′, 22′ or 24′.

At Step 46, a message is sent to the target device 12, 14, 16. Themessage allows the target device 12, 14, 16 to receive information basedon the alphanumeric identifier or receive the pre-determinedadvertisement from the database 20′, 22′ or 24′ instead.

In one embodiment, the message sent to the target device 12, 14, 16including the pre-determined advertisement would be immediatelydisplayed on the target device 12, 14, 16. The pre-determinedadvertisement might include the recorded announcement “Looking to ordera pizza tonight? Domino's Pizza is offering a large pepperoni pizza,delivered hot and fresh to your door for $9.99. Press one to beconnected to Domino's to take advantage of this great, money-savingoffer, or press 2 to complete your call as dialed to Pizza Hut.”

In another embodiment, the message sent to the target device 12, 14, 16including the pre-determined advertisement allows a user to initiate toelect to display the advertisement, rather than immediately displayingthe pre-determined advertisement. For example, in the above example, themessage includes “Press 1 to hear about special, money-saving offers onpizza. Press 2 to connect your call.”

In another embodiment, database 20′, 22′, 24′ also could be utilized tosend targeted print advertisements to subscribers based upon the typesof queries placed from the target network device 12, 14, 16. Forexample, a residential mobile phone subscriber who frequently calls anumber categorized in the database 20′, 22′, 24′ as a florist mightreceive print advertisements or coupons for flowers in his phone bill, aseparate bill either on paper or electronically. The subscriber's phonecompany could also sell this data to a print advertiser marketer orother businesses to target and mail print advertisement and/or couponsto residential phone customers based upon their calling habits.

In another embodiment, the target network device 12, 14, 16 includesapplication 26 with an internal database on a computer chip (e.g., ROM,flash, etc.), circuit board, and/or other hardware or firmware deviceinstalled or maintained inside the target network device 12, 14, 16. Insuch an embodiment, the internal database is updated periodically basedon alphanumeric identifiers used and communications with thecommunications network 18.

Users of the methods and system earn revenue in a number of ways. Forexample, phone companies could charge advertisers for each listing in adatabase or cloud computing object, for each time a pre-determinedadvertisement is played, and/or for each call actually transferred tothe advertiser's business at the conclusion of display of apre-determined advertisement.

Cloud Computing

FIG. 4 is a block diagram 46 illustrating an exemplary cloudcommunications network 18. However, the present invention is not limitedto this cloud computing model and other cloud computing models can alsobe used to practice the invention. The exemplary cloud communicationsnetwork includes both wired and/or wireless components of public andprivate networks.

This exemplary cloud computing model for intelligent electronicinformation processing promotes availability for shared resources andcomprises: (1) cloud computing essential characteristics; (2) cloudcomputing service models; and (3) cloud computing deployment models.However, the present invention is not limited to this cloud computingmodel and other cloud computing models can also be used to practice theinvention.

The cloud communications network 18 provides on-demand self-service,broad network access, resource pooling, rapid elasticity and measuredelectronic services for electronic storage and retrieval.

The cloud source network device includes a server network device 20, 22,24. In another embodiment, the cloud source network device includes agateway and/or router and/or switch and/or edge server network deviceeach with one or more processor.

In one embodiment, the cloud source network device 20, 22, 24 and/or thetarget network devices 12, 14, 16 include a wireless networkinginterface comprising 4^(th) generation (4G) Worldwide Interoperabilityfor Microwave Access (WiMax) Long Term Evolution (LTE) wirelessinterface in communications with the cloud communications network 18.However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment andother types of wireless networking interfaces can be used to practicethe invention.

Exemplary cloud computing essential characteristics appear in Table 1.However, the present invention is not limited to these essentialcharacteristics and more, fewer or other characteristics can also beused to practice the invention.

TABLE 1 On-demand Electronic content retrievers can unilaterallyprovision electronic computing capabilities, such as server time andcontent network storage, as needed automatically without retrievalrequiring human interaction with each network services. server on thecloud communications network 18. Broadband Electronic content retrievalcapabilities are available network over plural broadband communicationsnetworks and access. accessed through standard mechanisms that promoteuse by heterogeneous thin or thick client platforms 12, 14, 16 (e.g.,mobile phones, smart phones, tablet computers, laptops, PDAs, etc.). Thebroadband network access includes high speed network access such as 3Gand/or 4G wireless and/or wired and broadband and/or ultra-broad band(e.g., WiMAX, etc.) network access. Resource Electronic contentretrieval computing resources are pooling. pooled to serve multiplerequesters using a multi-tenant model, with different physical andvirtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according toelectronic content retrieval demand. There is location independence inthat an requester of electronic content has no control and/or knowledgeover the exact location of the provided by the electronic contentretrieval resources but may be able to specify location at a higherlevel of abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter). Examples ofpooled resources include storage, processing, memory, network bandwidth,virtual server network device and virtual target network devices. RapidCapabilities can be rapidly and elastically elasticity. provisioned, insome cases automatically, to quickly scale out and rapidly released toquickly scale for electronic content retrieval. To the electroniccontent retriever, the electronic content capabilities available forprovisioning appear to be unlimited and can be used in any quantity atany time. Measured Cloud computing systems automatically control andServices. optimize resource use by leveraging a metering capability atsome level of abstraction appropriate to the type of electronic contentretrieval service (e.g., storage, processing, bandwidth, customelectronic content retrieval applications, etc.). Electronic contentretrieval usage is monitored, controlled, and reported providingtransparency for both the electronic content provider and the electroniccontent requester of the utilized electronic content retrieval service.

Exemplary cloud computing service models illustrated in FIG. 4 appear inTable 2. However, the present invention is not limited to these servicemodels and more, fewer or other service models can also be used topractice the invention.

TABLE 2 Cloud Computing The capability to use the provider'sapplications 26, Software Applications 27 running on a cloudinfrastructure 52. The cloud 48 for an Electronic computing applications27 are accessible from the Advertising Services server network devices20, 22, 24 from various (CCSA 50). client target network devices 12, 14,16 through a thin client interface such as a web browser plug-in 28,etc. The user does not manage or control the underlying cloudinfrastructure 52 including network, servers, operating systems,storage, or even individual application 26, 27 capabilities, with thepossible exception of limited user-specific application configurationsettings. Cloud Computing The capability provided to the user is toprovision Infrastructure 52 for processing, storage, networks 18, 60,62, 64, 66 and the an Electronic other fundamental computing resourceswhere the Content Retrieval consumer is able to deploy and run arbitraryService (CCI 54). software, which can include operating systems andapplications 26, 27. The user does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure 52 but has control over operating systems, storage,deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networkingcomponents (e.g., host firewalls, etc.). Cloud Computing The capabilityprovided to the user to deploy onto Platform 56 for the cloudinfrastructure 52 created or acquired the an Electronic applicationscreated using programming languages Content Retrieval and toolssupported servers 20, 22, 24, etc.. The Service (CCP 58). user notmanage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure 52 includingnetwork, servers, operating systems, or storage, but has control overthe deployed applications 26, 27 and possibly application hostingenvironment configurations.

Exemplary cloud computing deployment models appear in Table 3. However,the present invention is not limited to these deployment models andmore, fewer or other deployment models can also be used to practice theinvention.

TABLE 3 Private cloud The cloud network infrastructure is operatedsolely for an network 60. electronic content retrieval organization. Itmay be managed by the electronic content retrieval organization or athird party and may exist on premise or off premise. Community The cloudnetwork infrastructure is shared by several different cloudorganizations and supports a specific electronic content network 62.retrieval community that has shared concerns (e.g., mission, securityrequirements, policy, compliance considerations, etc.). It may bemanaged by the different organizations or a third party and may exist onpremise or off premise. Public cloud The cloud network infrastructuresuch as the Internet, network 64. PSTN, CATV, etc. is made available tothe general public or a large industry group and is owned by one or moreorganizations selling cloud services. Hybrid cloud The cloud networkinfrastructure 52 is a composition of two network 66. and/or more cloudnetworks 18 (e.g., private 60, community 62, and/or public 64, etc.)and/or other types of public and/or private networks (e.g., intranets,etc.) that remain unique entities but are bound together by standardizedor proprietary technology that enables data and application portability(e.g., cloud bursting for load-balancing between clouds, etc.)

Cloud software 48 for electronic content retrieval takes full advantageof the cloud paradigm by being service oriented with a focus onstatelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperabilityfor electronic content retrieval.

In on exemplary embodiment, the application 26, 27, offers additionalcloud services. The cloud advertising application 26, 27 offers thecloud computing Infrastructure 52, 54 as a cloud Service 48 (IaaS),including a cloud software service 50, the cloud Platform 56, 58 as acloud Service 70 (PaaS) including a cloud software service 50, or offersSpecific cloud software services as a cloud Service 48 (SaaS) includinga cloud software service 50. The IaaS, PaaS and SaaS include one or moreof cloud services 48 comprising networking, storage, server networkdevice, virtualization, operating system, middleware, run-time, dataand/or application services, or plural combinations thereof, on thecloud communications network 18.

The source and target cloud computing applications 26, 27 include anelectronic content advertising and indexing service CCSA 50, a cloudcomputing platform CCP 52 for the electronic content advertising andindexing service and a cloud computing infrastructure CCI 54 for theelectronic content advertising and indexing service.

Internet Television Services

The applications 26, 27 provide advertising from television servicesover the cloud communications network 18. The television servicesinclude CATV, satellite TV, Internet television, Web-TV, InternetProtocol Television (IPtv) and/or broadcast television advertisingservices.

“Internet television” allows users to choose a program or the televisionshow they want to watch from an archive of programs or from a channeldirectory. The two forms of viewing Internet television are streamingcontent directly to a media player or simply downloading a program to aviewer's set-top box, game console, computer, or other mesh networkdevice.

“Web-TV” delivers digital content via non-mesh broadband and mobilenetworks. The digital content is streamed to a viewer's set-top box,game console, computer, or other mesh network device.

“Internet Protocol television (IPtv)” is a system through which Internettelevision services are delivered using the architecture and networkingmethods of the Internet Protocol Suite over a packet-switched networkinfrastructure, e.g., the Internet and broadband Internet accessnetworks, instead of being delivered through traditional radio frequencybroadcast, satellite signal, and cable television (CATV) formats.

However, the present invention is not limited to such InternetTelevision services and more, fewer and/or other Internet Televisionservices can be used to practice the invention.

Search Engine Services

The applications 26, 27 provide advertising from general search engineservices. A search engine is designed to search for information on acloud communications network 18 such as the Internet including WorldWide Web servers, FTP servers etc. The search results are generallypresented in a list of electronic results. The information may consistof web pages, images, electronic information, multimedia information,and other types of files. Some search engines also mine data availablein databases or open directories. Unlike web directories, which aremaintained by human editors, search engines typically operatealgorithmically and/or are a mixture of algorithmic and human input.

The applications 26, 27 provide advertising from general search engineservices as stand alone services. In another embodiment, theapplications 26, 27 provide general search engine services byinteracting with one or more other public search engines (e.g., GOOGLE,BING, YAHOO, etc.) and/or private search engine services.

The applications 26, 27 also provide advertising from specialized searchengine services, such as vertical search engine services by interactingwith one or more other public vertical search engines (e.g., GALAXY.COM,etc.) and/or private search engine services.

However, the present invention is not limited to providing advertisingfrom such general and/or vertical search engine services and more, fewerand/or other types of advertising can be provided from other types ofgeneral sand/or specialized search engine services can be used topractice the invention.

Social Networking Services

In one embodiment, the applications 26, 27 provide advertising from oneor more social networking services including to/from one or more socialnetworking web-sites (e.g., FACEBOOK, U-TUBE, TWITTER, MY-SPACE,MATCH.COM, E-HARMONY, GROUP ON, SOCIAL LIVING, etc.). The socialnetworking web-sites also include, but are not limited to, socialcouponing sites, dating web-sites, blogs, RSS/ATOM feeds, and othertypes of information web-sites in which messages can be left or postedfor a variety of social activities.

However, the present invention is not limited to the social networkingservices described and other public and private social networkingservices can also be used to practice the invention.

SKYPE Services

SKYPE is a proprietary voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) service andsoftware application originally created by Niklas Zennstrom, and ownedby MICROSOFT since 2011. The service allows users to communicate withpeers by voice, video, and instant messaging over the Internet. Phonecalls may be placed to recipients on the traditional telephone networks.Calls to other users within the SKYPE service are free of charge, whilecalls to landline telephones and mobile phones are charged via adebit-based user account system. S SKYPE e has also become popular forits additional features, including file transfer, and videoconferencing.Other SKYPE like services include SIP and H.323-based services, such asEMPATHY, LINPHONE, EKIGA, as well as the GOOGLE TALK services.

Cloud Storage

Cloud storage of desired electronic content on a cloud communicationsnetwork 18 includes agility, scalability, elasticity and multi-tenancy.Although a storage foundation may be comprised of block storage or filestorage such as that exists on conventional networks, cloud storage istypically only exposed to requesters of desired electronic content as“cloud storage objects” (e.g., 68, FIG. 5, etc.).

FIG. 5 is a block diagram 68 illustrating an exemplary cloud storageobject 70.

The cloud storage object 70 includes an envelope portion 72, with aheader portion 74, and a body portion 76. However, the present inventionis not limited to such a cloud storage object 70 and other cloud storageobjects and other cloud storage objects with more, fewer or otherportions can also be used to practice the invention.

The envelope portion 72 uses unique namespace Uniform ResourceIdentifiers (URIs) and/or Uniform Resource Names (URNs), and/or UniformResource Locators (URLs) unique across the cloud communications network18 to specify, location and version information and encoding rules usedby the cloud storage object 70. For more information, see IETF RFC-3305,Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs), URLs, and Uniform Resource Names(URNs), the contents of which are incorporated by reference.

The envelope portion 72 of the cloud storage object 70 is followed by aheader portion 74. The header portion includes extended informationabout the cloud storage objects such as authorization and/or transactioninformation, etc.

The body portion 76 includes methods 78 (i.e., a sequence ofinstructions, etc.) for using embedded application-specific data in dataelements 80. The body portion 76 typically includes only one portion ofplural portions of the application-specific data so the cloud storageobject 70 can provide distributed, redundant fault tolerant, securityand privacy features described herein.

Cloud storage objects 70 have proven experimentally to be a highlyscalable, distributed, available and reliable layer of abstraction thatalso minimizes the limitations of common file systems. Cloud storageobjects 70 also provide low latency and low storage and transmissioncosts.

Cloud storage objects 70 are comprised of plural distributed storagelocations, but function as a single storage object, are highly faulttolerant through redundancy and provide distribution of desiredelectronic content across public communication networks 64, and one ormore private networks 60, community networks 62 and hybrid networks 66of the cloud communications network 18. Cloud storage objects 68 arealso highly durable because they also initiate creation of copies ofportions of desired electronic content across such networks 60, 62, 64,66 of the cloud communications network 18. Cloud storage objects 70 arestored on one or more of the 60, 62, 64, 66 networks of the cloudcommunications network 18 and/or on the target network device 12, 14,16. Cloud storage objects 70 are transparent to a requester of desiredelectronic content and are managed by cloud computing application 26,27.

Cloud storage objects 70 comprise plural storage objects distributed oncloud source network devices 20, 22, 24, and/or other storage devices(e.g., gateway, router, bridge, switch, edge server, etc.) and/or thetarget network devices 12, 14, 16 with a size up to hundreds ofterabytes, each accompanied by with a few kilobytes of metadata. Cloudstorage objects 70 are organized into and each identified by a uniqueidentifier unique across the whole cloud communications network 18.However, the present invention is not limited to the cloud storageobjects described, and more fewer and other types of cloud storageobjects can be used to practice the invention.

Cloud storage objects 70 present a single unified namespace orobject-space and manages desired electronic content by user oradministrator-defined policies storage and retrieval policies.

Cloud storage objects 70 include Representational state transfer (REST),Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) and/or an Application ProgrammingInterface (API) and/or other types of cloud storage objects. However,the present invention is not limited to the cloud storage objectsdescribed, and more fewer and other types of cloud storage objects canbe used to practice the invention.

REST characterizes and constrains macro-interactions of the fourcomponents of a cloud communications network 18, namely origin servers,gateways, proxies and clients, without imposing limitations on theindividual participants.

SOAP is a protocol specification for exchanging structured informationin the implementation of cloud services. SOAP has at least three majorcharacteristics: (1) Extensibility (including security/encryption,routing, etc.); (2) Neutrality (SOAP can be used over any transportprotocol such as HTTP, SMTP or even TCP, etc.), and (3) Independence(SOAP allows for almost any programming model to be used, etc.)

An API is a particular set of rules and specifications that softwareprograms can follow to communicate with each other. It serves as aninterface between different software programs and facilitates theirinteraction.

Number Indexing for Advertising with Cloud Computing

FIGS. 6A and 6B are a flow diagram illustrating a Method 84 foralphanumeric identifier indexing for advertising with cloud computing.At Step 86, plural alphanumeric identifiers are received on a sourcecloud application on a source network device with one or more processorsvia a cloud communications network comprising: one or more publiccommunication networks, one or more private networks, one or morecommunity networks and one or more hybrid networks. The plural receivedalphanumeric identifiers include connectable and disconnectedalphanumeric identifiers and valid and invalid alphanumeric identifiers.At Step 88, the source cloud application on source network devicecategorizes the received plural alphanumeric identifiers into a pluraldifferent pre-determined advertising categories. At Step 90, the sourcecloud application on the source network device stores the categorizedplural alphanumeric identifiers in a cloud storage object. The cloudstorage object comprises a plural separate storage locations distributedacross the cloud communications network but functions as a singlestorage object. A target cloud application on a target network devicecannot determine which cloud source network devices on the one or morepublic, private, community or hybrid networks on the cloudcommunications network may have stored the cloud storage object or aportion thereof, thereby providing security and privacy for recordingrequests made by the target cloud application on the target networkdevice. In FIG. 6B at Step 92, the source cloud application on thesource network device associates plural pre-determined advertisementsstored in the cloud storage object with the plural categorizedalphanumeric identifiers stored in the cloud storage object. At Step 94,a target alphanumeric identifier is received on the source cloudapplication on the source network device from a target cloud applicationon a target network device with one or more processors via the cloudcommunications network. The target network device can contact the sourcenetwork device from anywhere on the cloud computing network. The targetalphanumeric identifier is used to connect the target network device toa desired network device anywhere on the cloud communications network.At Step 96, the source cloud application on the source network deviceretrieves a pre-determined advertisement from the plural categorizedalphanumeric identifiers stored in the cloud storage object based on thereceived target alphanumeric identifier. At Step 98, a secure message issent from the source cloud application on the source network device tothe target network device via the cloud communications network. Thesecure message includes electronic information that allows the targetnetwork device to make a selection input to connect to the desirednetwork device or to receive and display the retrieved pre-determinedadvertisement and connect to another network device associated with theretrieved pre-determined advertisement instead.

Method 84 is illustrated with one exemplary embodiment. However, thepresent invention is not limited to such an embodiment and otherembodiments can also be used to practice the invention.

In such an exemplary embodiment, in FIG. 6A at Step 86, pluralalphanumeric identifiers are received on a source cloud application26/27 on a source network device 20, 22, 24 with one or more processorsvia a cloud communications network 18 comprising: one or more publiccommunication networks 64, one or more private networks 60, one or morecommunity networks 62 and one or more hybrid networks 66. The pluralreceived alphanumeric identifiers include connectable and un-connectablealphanumeric identifiers and valid and invalid alphanumeric identifiers.

Connectable alphanumeric identifiers include those to which a device canbe immediately connected to. Un-connectable alphanumeric identifiersinclude those to which a device cannot be immediately connected to(e.g., the device is off, its battery has expired, it is out range tocommunicate with a communication network, etc.).

Valid alphanumeric identifiers includes those alphanumeric identifiersthat are currently valid. Invalid alphanumeric identifiers include thosethat are not valid to do discontinuation of a network device and/or aservice to a network device and/or a disabling or an old or obsoletenetwork device, etc.

The alphanumeric identifiers, include, but are not limited to, telephonenumbers, voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) identifiers including, butnot limited to, SKYPE identifiers, Internet Protocol (IP) identifiers,an instant message (IM) identifier, a text message identifier, an e-mailaddress identifier a social network identifier, a social networking hashcode (e.g., TWITTER hash code, etc.), etc. However, the presentinvention is not limited to such an embodiment and more, fewer or othertypes of alphanumeric identifiers can be used to practice the invention.

At Step 88, the source cloud application 26/27 on source network device20, 22, 24 categorizes the received plural alphanumeric identifiers intoa plural different pre-determined advertising categories (e.g., withMethods 25 and 36 described above).

Pre-determined advertisements in the plural different pre-determinedadvertising categories are sold to one or more advertisers for anadvertising category. For example, for pizza restaurants, Domino's Pizzamy purchase all advertising for pizza restaurants. Any alphanumericidentifiers received and categorized for pizza restaurants would beassociated with Domino's Pizza advertising.

The pre-determined advertisements are also sold to plural advertisersfor advertising categories. The pre-determined advertisements areassociated based on a number of pre-determined methods such asround-robin method, a weighted method, depending on an amount ofadvertising purchased, etc

At Step 90, the source cloud application 26/27 on the source networkdevice 20, 22, 24 stores the categorized plural alphanumeric identifiersin a cloud storage object 70. The cloud storage object 70 comprises aplural separate storage locations distributed across the cloudcommunications network 18 but functions as a single storage object. Atarget cloud application 26/27 on a target network device 12, 14, 16cannot determine which cloud source network devices 20, 22, 24 on theone or more public 64, private 60, community 62 or hybrid networks 66 onthe cloud communications network 18 may have stored the cloud storageobject 70 or a portion thereof, thereby providing security and privacyfor recording requests made by the target cloud application 26/27 on thetarget network device 12, 14, 16.

In FIG. 6B at Step 92, the source cloud application 26/27 on the sourcenetwork device 20, 22, 24 associates plural pre-determinedadvertisements stored in the cloud storage object 70 with the pluralcategorized alphanumeric identifiers stored in the cloud storage object70.

The pre-determined advertisement includes a recorded audio, video,graphical or electronic text advertisement. However, the presentinvention is not limited to this embodiment and more, fewer or othertypes of pre-determined advertisements can be used to practice theinvention.

At Step 94, a target alphanumeric identifier is received on the sourcecloud application 26/27 on the source network device 20, 22, 24 from atarget cloud application 26/27 on a target network device 12, 14, 16with one or more processors via the cloud communications network 18. Thetarget network device 12, 14, 16 can contact the source network device20, 22, 24 from anywhere on the cloud computing network 18. The targetalphanumeric identifier is used to connect the target network device 12,14, 16 to a desired network device 20, 22, 24 and/or 12, 14, 16 anywhereon the cloud communications network 18.

The target alphanumeric identifiers, include, but are not limited to,telephone numbers, voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) identifiers,including, but not limited to, SKYPE identifiers, Internet Protocol (IP)identifiers, an instant message (IM) identifier, a text messageidentifier, an e-mail address identifier a social network identifier, asocial networking hash code (e.g., TWITTER hash code, etc.), etc.However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment andmore, fewer or other types of target alphanumeric identifiers can beused to practice the invention.

At Step 96, the source cloud application 26/27 on the source networkdevice 20, 22, 24 retrieves a pre-determined advertisement from theplural categorized alphanumeric identifiers stored in the cloud storageobject 70 based on the received target alphanumeric identifier.

For example, an advertising category being queried by the targetalphanumeric identifier is determined using a cloud storage object 70associated with the source network device 20, 22, 24. For example, if auser of a target network device sent a target alphanumeric identifier bydialing 555-555-5555, on a mobile phone, sent the text “pizza” via textmessage, IM, e-mail, etc., sent the social network TWITTER hash code“#pizza,” etc. and the subscriber to the alphanumeric identifier wasPizza Hut, the source network device 20, 22, 24 on the cloud network 18would categorize that number as a restaurant, or more specifically, apizza restaurant or pizza delivery service.

At Step 98, a secure message is sent from the source cloud application26/27 on the source network device 20, 22, 24 to the target networkdevice 12, 14, 16 via the cloud communications network 18. The securemessage includes electronic information that allows the target networkdevice 12, 14, 16 to make a selection input to connect to the desirednetwork device 12, 14, 16 and/or 20, 22, 24 or to receive and displaythe retrieved pre-determined advertisement and connect to anothernetwork device 12, 14, 16 and/or 20, 22, 24 associated with theretrieved pre-determined advertisement instead.

For example, the secure message sent to the target device 12, 14, 16including the pre-determined advertisement would be immediatelydisplayed on the target device 12, 14, 16. The pre-determinedadvertisement might include a recorded voice announcement, text message,IM message, or e-mail message including “Looking to order a pizzatonight? Domino's Pizza is offering a large pepperoni pizza, deliveredhot and fresh to your door for $9.99. Press/text/IM/enter one to beconnected to Domino's to take advantage of this great, money-savingoffer, or press/text/IM/e-mail/enter two to complete your call as dialedto Pizza Hut.”

The secure message sent to the target device 12, 14, 16 including thepre-determined advertisement may also allow a user to initiate to electto display the advertisement, rather than immediately displaying thepre-determined advertisement. For example, in the above example, themessage includes “Press/text/IM/enter one to hear or read about special,money-saving offers on pizza. Press two to connect your originalrequest.”

The secure message is sent using any of the security and/or encryptiontechniques described above.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a Method 100 for alphanumericidentifier indexing for advertising with cloud computing. At Step 102, aselection input is received on the source cloud application on thesource network device via the cloud computing network from the targetnetwork device. The selection input is a response to a secure messagesent by the source network device. At Step 104, the source cloudapplication on the source network device stores results from theselection input in a cloud storage object. The results from theselection input are available to a plural other network devices owned byan owner of the target network device and also available to plurallogins owned by the owner of the target network device on a plural otherserver network devices at any time from anywhere on the cloud computingnetwork, thereby providing a synchronization of information via thecloud computing network across all devices and across all logins for theowner of the target network device.

Method 100 is illustrated with one exemplary embodiment. However, thepresent invention is not limited to such an embodiment and otherembodiments can also be used to practice the invention.

In such an exemplary embodiment, At Step 102, a selection input isreceived on the source cloud application 26/27 on the source networkdevice 20, 22, 24 via the cloud computing network 18 from the targetnetwork device 12, 14, 16. The selection input is a response to a securemessage sent by the source network device 20, 22, 24 (e.g., at Step 98of Method 84, etc.).

At Step 104, the source cloud application 26/27 on the source networkdevice 20, 22, 24 stores results from the selection input in a cloudstorage object 70. The results from the selection input are available toa plural other network devices 14, 16 owned by an owner of the targetnetwork device 12 and also available to plural logins owned by the ownerof the target network device 12, 14, 16 on a plural other server networkdevices 20, 22, 24 at any time from anywhere on the cloud computingnetwork 18, thereby providing a synchronization of information via thecloud computing network 18 across all devices and across all logins forthe owner of the target network device 12, 14, 16.

The plural logins include electronic mail logins, electronic commercelogins (e.g., AMAZON.COM, BUY.COM, etc.) and social networking logins(e.g., FACEBOOK, TWITTER, GROUPON, etc.).

The methods and system described herein provides an opportunity foradvertising goods and services to the pubic in a way that is notcurrently being utilized. Each day, millions and millions of telephonecalls are placed, millions or instant messages, text message and e-mailsare sent. Each day advertisers could reach hundreds of millions ofconsumers by utilizing the method and systems.

Users of the methods and system described herein can also store thealphanumeric identifiers used from any target device, match thosealphanumeric identifiers to pre-determined advertising categories in thecloud storage object 70, and maintain user profiles including types ofgoods and services used by a particular user for purposes of targetedmarketing from direct mail or telemarketing.

Number Indexing for Pre-Determined and Dynamically Generated Advertisingwith Cloud Computing

FIGS. 8A, 8B and 8C are a flow diagram illustrating a Method 106 foralphanumeric identifier indexing for advertising with cloud computing.At Step 108, plural alphanumeric identifiers are received on a cloudadvertising application on a source network device with one or moreprocessors via a cloud communications network comprising: one or morepublic communication networks, one or more private networks, one or morecommunity networks and one or more hybrid networks. The plural receivedalphanumeric identifiers include connectable and disconnectedalphanumeric identifiers and valid and invalid alphanumeric identifiers.At Step 110 the cloud advertising application on source network devicecategorizes the plural alphanumeric identifiers into a plural differentpre-determined and dynamically generated advertising categories. At Step112, the cloud advertising application on the source network devicestores the categorized plural alphanumeric identifiers in a cloudstorage object. The cloud storage object comprises a plural separatestorage locations distributed across the cloud communications networkbut functions as a single storage object. A target cloud application ona target network device cannot determine which cloud source networkdevices on the one or more public, private, community or hybrid networkson the cloud communications network may have stored the cloud storageobject or a portion thereof, thereby providing security and privacy forrecording requests made by the target cloud application on the targetnetwork device. In FIG. 8B at Step 114, the cloud advertisingapplication on the source network device associated pluralpre-determined advertisements stored in the cloud storage object and/ora plural dynamically generated advertisements with the pluralcategorized alphanumeric identifiers stored in the cloud storage object.At Step 116, a target alphanumeric identifier is received on a cloudadvertising application on the source network device from a target cloudapplication on a target network device with one or more processors viathe cloud communications network. The target network device can contactthe source network device from anywhere on the cloud computing networkand wherein the target alphanumeric identifier is used to connect thetarget network device to a desired network device anywhere on the cloudcommunications network. A Step 118, the cloud advertising application onthe source network device retrieves a pre-determined advertisement ordynamically generates an advertisement from the plural categorizedalphanumeric identifiers stored in the cloud storage object based on thereceived target alphanumeric identifier. In FIG. 8C at Step 120, asecure message is sent from the cloud advertisement application on thesource network device to the target network device via the cloudcommunications network. The secure message includes electronicinformation that allows the target network device to make a selectioninput to connect to the desired network device or to automaticallyreceive and display the retrieved pre-determined advertisement or thedynamically generated advertisement. At Step 122, the cloud advertisingapplication on the source network device stores in the cloud storageobject a record of any pre-determined advertisements or dynamicallygenerated advertisements retrieved or displayed by the target networkdevice, thereby providing a synchronization of retrieved and/ordynamically generated displayed advertisements across all networkdevices and across all logins for the owner of the target network deviceso the retrieved and/or dynamically displayed advertisements are or arenot re-displayed on any other network devices or any other loginsanywhere such other network devices or logins are used anywhere on thecloud computing network.

Method 106 is illustrated with one exemplary embodiment. However, thepresent invention is not limited to such an embodiment and otherembodiments can also be used to practice the invention.

In such an exemplary embodiment, in FIG. 8A at Step 108, pluralalphanumeric identifiers are received on a cloud advertising application26/27 on a source network device 20, 22, 24 with one or more processorsvia a cloud communications network 18 comprising: one or more publiccommunication networks 64, one or more private networks 60, one or morecommunity networks 62 and one or more hybrid networks 66. The pluralreceived alphanumeric identifiers include connectable and un-connectablealphanumeric identifiers and valid and invalid alphanumeric identifiers.

Connectable alphanumeric identifiers include those to which a device canbe immediately connected to. Un-connectable alphanumeric identifiersinclude those to which a device cannot be immediately connected to(e.g., the device is off, its battery has expired, it is out range tocommunicate with a communication network, etc.).

Valid alphanumeric identifiers includes those alphanumeric identifiersthat are currently valid. Invalid alphanumeric identifiers include thosethat are not valid to do discontinuation of a network device and/or aservice to a network device and/or a disabling or an old or obsoletenetwork device, etc.

The alphanumeric identifiers, include, but are not limited to, telephonenumbers, voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) identifiers including, butnot limited to, SKYPE identifiers, Internet Protocol (IP) identifiers,an instant message (IM) identifier, a text message identifier, an e-mailaddress identifier a social network identifier, a social networking hashcode (e.g., TWITTER hash code, etc.), login identifiers, etc. However,the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment and more,fewer or other types of alphanumeric identifiers can be used to practicethe invention.

At Step 110, the cloud advertising application 26/27 on source networkdevice 20, 22, 24 categorizes the received plural alphanumericidentifiers into a plural different pre-determined advertisingcategories (e.g., with Methods 25 and 36 described above) anddynamically generated advertising categories.

Pre-determined advertisements in the plural different pre-determinedadvertising categories are sold to one or more advertisers for anadvertising category. For example, for pizza restaurants, Domino's Pizzamy purchase all advertising for pizza restaurants. Any alphanumericidentifiers received and categorized for pizza restaurants would beassociated with Domino's Pizza advertising.

The pre-determined advertisements are also sold to plural advertisersfor advertising categories. The pre-determined advertisements areassociated based on a number of pre-determined methods such asround-robin method, a weighted method, depending on an amount ofadvertising purchased, etc.

The pre-determined advertisements include, but are not limited to,electronic text and/or audio, and/or video and/or graphical and/ormulti-media advertisements that are created by and stored for the one ormore advertisers.

The dynamically generated advertisements, include, but are not limitedto, electronic text and/or multi-media and/or audio and/or video and/orgraphical advertisements that are generated dynamically for a targetnetwork device based a number of factors, including, but not limited to,a time and/or a date and/or a physical location of a specific targetdevice, and/or a type of target network device, and/or payment by anadvertiser, etc.

In one embodiment, a physical location of a target network device 12,14, 16, and/or wearable device 136-142 is determined by GlobalPositioning System (GPS) location information. GPS is a space-basedsatellite navigation system that provides location and time informationin all weather conditions, anywhere on or near the Earth where there isan unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites.

The physical location of a target network device 12, 14, 16 and/orwearable device 136-142 can also be determined with other locationmethods such as a hardware address location, and IP address location,latitude and longitude, a Cartesian coordinate grid (e.g., a Sphericalcoordinate system, etc.), an ellipsoid-based system (e.g., WorldGeodetic System), or similar methods, etc.

However, the present invention is not limited to GPS locationinformation and other types of physical location information can be usedto practice the invention.

In one embodiment, a first advertisement (e.g., electronic text, etc.)may be sent to a first type of target network device (e.g., non-smartphone) and a second type of advertisement (e.g., multi-media, etc.) maybe sent to a second type of target network device (e.g., smart phone,tablet computer, etc.), etc. with different and/or advancedcapabilities.

For example, a target network device 12, 14, 16 and/or wearable networkdevice 136-142 may request advertising at lunch time and anadvertisement may be generated dynamically that includes a lunchspecial. The dynamic advertisement may only be generated for a certaintime (e.g., for lunch time hours between 11 am and 2 pm, etc.) a certainday (e.g., Tuesdays only because Tuesdays are the slowest days for lunchtime purchases, etc.) a certain location (e.g., when the target deviceis physically within 1 mile of the restaurant, because the restaurantdoes not deliver, etc.) and/or payment by an advertiser (e.g., Joe'sPizza pays for advertising and receives a top spot so its advertising isalways sent first to any target network device requesting advertisementsfor any type of food and/or restaurants.

The dynamic advertisements generated include, but are not limited to,dynamically generated voice advertisements, voice and other audioadvertisements, video advertisements, electronic text advertisements,banner advertisements, etc.

In one embodiment, the dynamic advertisements are dynamically generatedfrom a set of advertising parameters stored in one or more cloud storageobjects 70 each time the dynamic advertising is requested. For example,a request for dynamically generated pizza advertising may include anaudio message that is generated with the voice synthesizer usingadvertising parameters for a current advertisers who paid for a top spotfor pizza restaurants. The top spot is dynamic based on time, date,amount of advertising fees paid, etc.

In another embodiment, selected components of the dynamic advertisementsare stored in one ore cloud storage objects 70 and retrieved to createthe dynamic advertisements when the dynamic advertising is requested.For example, a first cloud storage object 70 may include a genericgraphical image of a pizza, a second may include specific advertisementinformation for a top pizza advertiser, etc. The two are combined todynamically great the pizza advertisement, etc.

However, the present invention is not limited to the pre-determined anddynamically created advertisements discussed and more, different andother types of advertisements can also be used to practice theinvention.

In FIG. 8B at Step 112, the cloud advertising application 26/27 on thesource network device 20, 22, 24 stores the categorized pluralalphanumeric identifiers in a cloud storage object 70. The cloud storageobject 70 comprises a plural separate storage locations distributedacross the cloud communications network 18 but functions as a singlestorage object. A target cloud application 26/27 on a target networkdevice 12, 14, 16 cannot determine which cloud source network devices20, 22, 24 on the one or more public 64, private 60, community 62 orhybrid networks 66 on the cloud communications network 18 may havestored the cloud storage object 70 or a portion thereof, therebyproviding security and privacy for recording requests made by the targetcloud application 26/27 on the target network device 12, 14, 16.

In FIG. 8B at Step 114, the cloud advertising application 26/27 on thesource network device 20, 22, 24 associates plural pre-determinedadvertisements and plural dynamically generated advertisements stored inthe cloud storage object 70 with the plural categorized alphanumericidentifiers stored in the cloud storage object 70.

The pre-determined advertisements and/or the dynamically generatedadvertisements include a recorded audio, video, graphical (e.g., banner,etc.) or electronic text advertisements. However, the present inventionis not limited to this embodiment and more, fewer or other types ofpre-determined advertisements can be used to practice the invention.

At Step 116, a target alphanumeric identifier is received on the cloudadvertising application 26/27 on the source network device 20, 22, 24from a target cloud application 26/27 on a target network device 12, 14,16 with one or more processors via the cloud communications network 18.The target network device 12, 14, 16 can contact the source networkdevice 20, 22, 24 from anywhere on the cloud computing network 18. Thetarget alphanumeric identifier is used to connect the target networkdevice 12, 14, 16 to a desired network device 20, 22, 24 and/or 12, 14,16 anywhere on the cloud communications network 18.

The target alphanumeric identifiers, include, but are not limited to,telephone numbers, voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) identifiers,including, but not limited to, SKYPE identifiers, Internet Protocol (IP)identifiers, an instant message (IM) identifier, a text messageidentifier, an e-mail address identifier a social network identifier, asocial networking hash code (e.g., TWITTER hash code, etc.), etc.However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment andmore, fewer or other types of target alphanumeric identifiers can beused to practice the invention.

At Step 118, the source cloud application 26/27 on the source networkdevice 20, 22, 24 retrieves a pre-determined advertisement and/ordynamically generates an advertisement using the plural categorizedalphanumeric identifiers stored in the cloud storage object 70 based onthe received target alphanumeric identifier.

For example, an advertising category being queried by the targetalphanumeric identifier is determined using a cloud storage object 70associated with the source network device 20, 22, 24. For example, if auser of a target network device 12, 14, 16 sent a target alphanumericidentifier by dialing 555-555-5555, on a mobile phone, sent the text“pizza” via text message, IM, e-mail, etc., sent the social networkTWITTER hash code “#pizza,” etc. and the subscriber to the alphanumericidentifier was Pizza Hut, the source network device 20, 22, 24 on thecloud network 18 would categorize that number as a restaurant, or morespecifically, a pizza restaurant or pizza delivery service and select anappropriate pre-determined pizza advertisement.

As another example, an advertising category being queried by the targetalphanumeric identifier is determined using a cloud storage object 70associated with the source network device 20, 22, 24. For example, if auser of a target network device 12, 14, 16 sent during a designatedlunch time period (e.g., 11 am until 2 pm, etc.) a target alphanumericidentifier by dialing 555-555-5555, on a mobile phone, sent the text“pizza” via text message, IM, e-mail, etc., sent the social networkTWITTER hash code “#pizza,” etc. and the subscriber to the alphanumericidentifier was Pizza Hut, the source network device 20, 22, 24 on thecloud network 18 would categorize that number as a restaurant, or morespecifically, a pizza restaurant or pizza delivery service and select anappropriate pizza advertisement for dynamic generation. For example, avoice or electronic text application is automatically generated stating“You can purchase a large pizza today during lunch time until 2:00 pmfor $9.95 instead of the regular price of $11.95”, etc.

In FIG. 8C at Step 120, a secure message is sent from the cloudadvertising application 26/27 on the source network device 20, 22, 24 tothe target network device 12, 14, 16 via the cloud communicationsnetwork 18. The secure message includes electronic information thatallows the target network device 12, 14, 16 to make a selection input toconnect to the desired network device 12, 14, 16 and/or 20, 22, 24 or toreceive and display the retrieved pre-determined and/or dynamicallygenerated advertisements.

For example, the secure message sent to the target device 12, 14, 16including the pre-determined advertisement would be immediatelydisplayed on the target device 12, 14, 16. The pre-determinedadvertisement might include a recorded voice announcement, text message,IM message, or e-mail message including “Looking to order a pizzatonight? Domino's Pizza is offering a large pepperoni pizza, deliveredhot and fresh to your door for $9.99. Press/text/IM/enter one to beconnected to Domino's to take advantage of this great, money-savingoffer, or press/text/IM/e-mail/enter two to complete your call as dialedto Pizza Hut.”

The secure message sent to the target device 12, 14, 16 including thepre-determined advertisement may also allow a user to initiate to electto display the advertisement, rather than immediately displaying thepre-determined advertisement. For example, in the above example, themessage includes “Press/text/IM/enter one to hear or read about special,money-saving offers on pizza. Press two to connect your originalrequest.”

The secure message is sent using any of the security and/or encryptiontechniques described above.

At Step 122, the cloud advertising application 26/27 on the sourcenetwork device 20, 22, 24 stores in the cloud storage object 70 a recordof any pre-determined advertisements or dynamically generatedadvertisements retrieved or displayed by the target network device 12,14, 16, thereby providing a synchronization of retrieved and/ordynamically generated displayed advertisements across all networkdevices 12, 14, 16, 20, 22, 24 and across all logins for the owner ofthe target network device 12, 14, 16 so the retrieved and/or dynamicallydisplayed advertisements are, or are not re-displayed on any othernetwork devices 12, 14, 16 or any other logins anywhere on any suchother network devices 12, 14, 16 or logins are used anywhere on thecloud computing network.

For example, if a user of a first target network device 12 retrieved anddisplayed a pizza advertisement and at pizza for lunch, the user maydesire not to see the advertisement again and the pizza advertisementwould not be displayed on any other network devices and/or owned by theuser.

However, if a user of the first target network device retrieved anddisplay an advertisement for an upcoming concert, and wanted to see theadvertisement again, the advertisement would be synchronized across allthe user's network devices 12, 14, 16 and/or across all of the user'slogins.

In one embodiment, a user of a target network device 12, 14, 16 is ableto statically (e.g., with a profile, digital cookie, etc.) set staticsynchronizations preferences for allowing or not allowing re-display ofviewed advertising that will be followed when the advertising isretrieved and/or dynamically generated.

In another embodiment, a user of a target network device 12, 14, 16 isable to dynamically select with dynamic synchronization preferenceswhether viewed advertising is re-displayed or not on other networkdevices and/or other logins and synchronized on cloud computing network.For example, the advertising may include a selection input to requestsynchronization across all network devices and/or logins across thecloud computing network, etc. and/or the cloud advertising application26/27 may display a selection input in addition to the displayed and/ordynamically generated advertising, to request synchronization, etc.

The synchronization of all advertising across network devices and/orlogins used on anywhere on the cloud computing network is dynamicallyconfigurable via the cloud advertising application 26/27 on a servernetwork device 20, 22, 24 and/or a corresponding cloud advertisingapplication on a target network device 12, 14, 16.

In addition, synchronization of only selected ones of advertising acrossnetwork devices and/or logins used on anywhere on the cloud computingnetwork is dynamically configuration via the cloud advertisingapplication 26/27 on a server network device 20, 22, 24 and/or acorresponding cloud advertising application on a target network device12, 14, 16.

However, the present invention is not limited to the embodimentsdiscussed and more, different and other types of embodiments can also beused to practice the invention.

With the method and system described herein, a cloud computing serviceis provided to process alphanumeric identifiers (e.g., telephone number,voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) identifier, Internet Protocol (IP)identifier, an instant message (IM) identifier, a text messageidentifier, an e-mail address identifier, a social networkingidentifier, a social networking hash code, login identifiers, etc.) andused to categorize and associate pre-determined advertising anddynamically generated advertising with the alphanumeric identifiers.When the alphanumeric identifier is received anywhere on a cloudcomputing network, the pre-determined advertising associated with thealphanumeric identifier is sent to a target device. The cloud computingservice keeps display or non-display of advertising in sync across alldevices and all alphanumeric identifiers owned by a user of the targetdevice.

Invalid Alphanumeric Identifiers for Desired Network Services

Huge numbers of requests for desired network services such as e-mail,text messaging, social networking fail each minute of each day. Theproviders of the desired network services must and do handle suchroutine failures. It is desirable to provide method for the providers orsuch desired network services to attempt collect additional revenuesfrom advertisers during the course of handling such routine failures.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating a Method 124 for automatedintelligent advertising. At Step 126, a message with a targetalphanumeric identifier for a desired network service is received on acloud advertising application on a cloud server network device with oneor more processors from a target cloud application on a target networkdevice with one or more processors via a cloud communications network,comprising: one or more public communication networks, one or moreprivate networks, one or more community networks and one or more hybridnetworks. At Step 128, the cloud advertising application on the cloudserver network device determines whether the received targetalphanumeric identifier is valid and allows a connection to the desirednetwork service. If the received target alphanumeric identifier is notvalid, at Step 130, the cloud advertising application on the cloudserver network device retrieves a pre-determined advertisement ordynamically generates an advertisement stored in a cloud storage objectbased on the received target alphanumeric identifier. The cloud storageobject comprises plural separate storage locations distributed acrossthe cloud communications network but functions as a single storageobject. The target cloud application on the target network device cannotdetermine which cloud server network devices on the one or more public,private, community or hybrid networks on the cloud communicationsnetwork may have stored the cloud storage object or a portion thereof.At Step 130, a return message is sent from the cloud advertisementapplication on the cloud server network device to the target cloudapplication on target network device via the cloud communicationsnetwork. The return message includes a notification that an attempt toconnect to the desired network services has failed and also includeselectronic advertising information that allows the target cloudapplication on the target network device to view display the retrievedpre-determined advertisement or the dynamically generated advertisementand make a selection input to automatically connect to another networkdevice associated with the retrieved pre-determined or dynamicallyadvertisement to obtain additional electronic advertising information.

Method 124 is illustrated with one exemplary embodiment. However, thepresent invention is not limited to such an embodiment and otherembodiments can also be used to practice the invention.

In such an exemplary embodiment, at Step 126, a message with a targetalphanumeric identifier for a desired network service is received on acloud advertising application 26/27 on a cloud server network device 20with one or more processors from a target cloud application 26/27 on atarget network device 12 with one or more processors via a cloudcommunications network 18, comprising: one or more public communicationnetworks 64, one or more private networks 60, one or more communitynetworks 62 and one or more hybrid networks 66.

For example, the target alphanumeric identifier is an e-mail, text,social networking identifier for an e-mail service, text messagingservice, social networking service, etc.

At Step 128, the cloud advertising application 26/27 on the cloud servernetwork device 20 determines whether the received target alphanumericidentifier is valid and allows a connection to the desired networkservice. For example, the received message may be an electronic mailmessage and the received target alphanumeric identifier may be an e-mailaddress that is no longer valid or for an e-mail account that isinactive, deleted, etc.

If the received target alphanumeric identifier is not valid, at Step130, the cloud advertising application 26/27 on the cloud server networkdevice 20 retrieves a pre-determined advertisement or dynamicallygenerates an advertisement stored in a cloud storage object 70 based onthe received target alphanumeric identifier.

In one embodiment, the received message is parsed to identify one ormore keywords (e.g., keywords in an e-mail message, text message, etc.)(See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,720,828, by the same inventor previouslyincorporated by reference).

In one embodiment, the keywords are parsed using a list of keywordsstored in database 20′. However, the present invention is not limited tothis embodiment and other embodiments can also be used to practice theinvention

The identified one or more keywords are submitted as a query to adatabase 20′. The database 20′ includes one or more electronic links forelectronic information suppliers who have pre-determined agreement toprovide electronic links. For example, the database 20′ includeselectronic links to x-different travel ticket booking web-sites. Thetravel ticket booking web-sites have paid a fee to allow theirelectronic links to be provided and inserted into e-mail message thatflow through an e-mail server any time an e-mail message includes thekeyword “travel” and is sent to an invalid e-mail address

In one embodiment, the electronic links are provided in a pre-determinedpriority order. An identified keyword of “hotel” is used. For example, afirst hotel room booking web-site pays a largest fee to have itselectronic link provided first for every database query for apre-determined time period. Second and subsequent hotel room bookingweb-sites pay smaller fees to have their electronic links provided afterthe first hotel room booking web-site.

In another embodiment, a first hotel room booking web-site's electroniclink may be added to every instance of the identified keyword “hotel” bypaying a largest advertising fee. In another embodiment, the first hotelroom booking web-site's electronic link may be added to a first instanceof the identified keyword hotel, a second hotel room booking web-sitemay be added to a second occurrence of the identified keyword hotel,etc. since the second hotel room booking web-site paid a smalleradvertising fee. In another embodiment, the first hotel room bookingweb-site may pay for a pre-determined number of identified keywordoccurrences (e.g., the first five occurrences in every e-mail, the firstoccurrence in every other e-mail, etc.).

In another embodiment, the electronic links are provided in a randomorder. In another embodiment, the electronic links are provided in apre-determined order (e.g., a round-robin order, a pre-determinedpattern repeating order, etc.) for a fixed advertising ee.

In another embodiment, the database queries may also further include oneor more queries to one or more search engines. In such an embodiment,the database query results may include a combination of electronic linksfrom both the database 20′ and the search engine query results. In suchan embodiment, the search engine queries may be used to update out ofdate or broken electronic link stored in the database 20′.

In another embodiment, an identified keyword may be mapped into pluralrelated keywords (e.g., car rental→Hertz, Avis, Alamo, Dollar, etc.).Plural identified keywords may be mapped back into one keyword (e.g.,Hertz, Avis, Alamo, etc.→car rental).

In another embodiment, database or search engine query results areintegrated into a return message as a “search electronic link” (i.e., anelectronic link that triggers a new search) that is viewed by a user toallow the user to be able to do searches right from the return messagesby selecting an electronic link with the search terms embedded in theelectronic link. In another embodiment, the return message may includean electronic link to audio, video and/or other multi-media or textadvertising purchased by one or more advertisers.

In another embodiment an electronic link for “Hotels” may include astatic search engine query (e.g.,google.com/search?biw=968&h1=en&q=hotels). Such an electronic link willprovide a search engine query (e.g., on Google) when the electronic linkis selected in the electronic information message.

The cloud storage object 70 comprises plural separate storage locationsdistributed across the cloud communications network 18 but functions asa single storage object. The target cloud application 26/27 on thetarget network device 12 cannot determine which cloud server networkdevices 20, 22, 24 on the one or more public 64, private 60, community62 or hybrid networks 66 on the cloud communications network 18 may havestored the cloud storage object or a portion thereof.

At Step 130, a return message is sent from the cloud advertisementapplication 26/27 on the cloud server network device 20 to the targetcloud application 26/27 on target network device 12 via the cloudcommunications network 18. The return message includes a notificationthat an attempt to connect to the desired network services has failedand also includes electronic advertising information that allows thetarget cloud application 26/27 on the target network device to viewdisplay the retrieved pre-determined advertisement or the dynamicallygenerated advertisement and/or make a selection input to automaticallyconnect to another network device 22, 24 associated with the retrievedpre-determined or dynamically advertisement to obtain additionalelectronic advertising information.

Method 124 allows providers of desired network services such as e-mail,text messaging, social networking, etc. to attempt to gain advertisingrevenue from messages sent to invalid alphanumeric identifiers for suchdesired network services.

Messages sent to an invalid alphanumeric identifier (e.g., e-mailaddress, text message address, social networking identifier, etc.) for adesired network service (e.g., e-mail, text messaging, socialnetworking, etc.) are returned including a notification that an attemptto connect to the desired network service has failed and also includeselectronic advertising information that allows a network device to viewand display a retrieved pre-determined advertisement or the dynamicallygenerated advertisement and make a selection input to automaticallyconnect to another network device associated with the retrievedpre-determined or dynamically advertisement to obtain additionalelectronic advertising information.

Wearable Devices

“Wearable technology” and/or “wearable devices” are clothing andaccessories incorporating computer and advanced electronic technologies.Wearable devices provide several advantages including, but not limitedto: (1) Quicker access to notifications. Important and/or summarynotifications are sent to alert a user to view the whole message. (2)Heads-up information. Digital eye wear allows users to display relevantinformation like directions without having to constantly glance down;(3) Always-on Searches. Wearable devices provide always-on, hands-freesearches; and (4) Recorded data and feedback. Wearable devices taketelemetric data recordings and providing useful feedback for users forexercise, health, fitness, etc. activities.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram 134 illustrating wearable devices. Thewearable devices include one or more processors and include, but are notlimited to, wearable digital glasses 136, clothing 138 (e.g., smart ties138′, etc.), jewelry 140 (e.g., smart rings, smart earrings, etc.)and/or watches 142. The wearable devices are also wearable by animals(e.g., service dogs, pets, show animals, circus animals, etc.). However,the present invention is not limited to such an embodiments and more,fewer and other types of wearable devices can also be used to practicethe invention.

In one embodiment, the wearable devices 136-142 also include anadvertising application 26′ with plural software modules. Theadvertising application 26′ further includes a cloud application 27′.The plural wearable devices 136-142 may also include a plug-in 28 for abrowser with plural software modules which communicates withapplications 26′ and 27′. The multiple software modules may beimplemented in firmware, hardware or any combination thereof. In oneembodiment, the plural wearable devices 136-142 may include a plug-in28′ for a browser with plural software modules. However, the presentinvention is not limited to such an embodiments and more, fewer andother types of wearable devices can also be used to practice theinvention.

Advertising on Wearable Devices

FIGS. 11A and 11B are a flow diagram illustrating a Method 144 forautomated intelligent advertising on wearable devices. In FIG. 11A atStep 146, a message is received for a target alphanumeric identifier ona cloud advertising application on a cloud server network device withone or more processors from a wearable application on a wearable networkdevice with one or more processors via a cloud communications network,comprising: one or more public communication networks, one or moreprivate networks, one or more community networks and one or more hybridnetworks. The wearable network device is wearable on a person or ananimal. The wearable network device can contact the cloud server networkdevice from anywhere on the cloud computing network and wherein thetarget alphanumeric identifier is used to connect the wearable networkdevice to a desired network device anywhere on the cloud communicationsnetwork. At Step 148 a test is conducted to on the cloud advertisingapplication on the cloud server network device whether the receivedtarget alphanumeric identifier is valid and allows a connection to thedesired network service. If the received target alphanumeric identifieris not valid, then at Step 150, the cloud advertising application on thecloud server network device retrieves a pre-determined advertisement ordynamically generating an advertisement stored in a cloud storage objectbased on the received target alphanumeric identifier. At Step 152, areturn message is sent from the cloud advertisement application on thecloud server network device to the wearable application on wearablenetwork device via the cloud communications network. The return messageincludes a notification that an attempt to connect to the desirednetwork services has failed and also includes electronic advertisinginformation that allows the wearable application on the wearable networkdevice to view display the retrieved pre-determined advertisement or thedynamically generated advertisement and make a selection input toautomatically connect to another network device associated with theretrieved pre-determined or dynamically advertisement to obtainadditional electronic advertising information. If the received targetalphanumeric identifier is valid, then in FIG. 11B at Step 154, thecloud advertising application on the cloud server network deviceretrieves a pre-determined advertisement or dynamically generating anadvertisement stored in a cloud storage object based on the receivedtarget alphanumeric identifier. At Step 156, the retrievedpre-determined advertisement or dynamically generated advertisement issent from the cloud advertisement application on the cloud servernetwork device to the wearable application on wearable network devicevia the cloud communications network.

Method 144 is illustrated with one exemplary embodiment. However, thepresent invention is not limited to such an embodiment and otherembodiments can also be used to practice the invention.

In such an exemplary embodiment, in FIG. 11A at Step 146, a message isreceived for a target alphanumeric identifier on a cloud advertisingapplication 26/27 on a cloud server network device 20 with one or moreprocessors from a wearable application 26′/27′ on a wearable networkdevice 136-142 (FIG. 10) with one or more processors via a cloudcommunications network 18, comprising: one or more public communicationnetworks 64, one or more private networks 60, one or more communitynetworks 62 and one or more hybrid networks 66.

The wearable network device 136-142 is wearable on a person or ananimal, wherein the wearable network device can contact the cloud servernetwork device 20 from anywhere on the cloud computing network 18.Target alphanumeric identifier is used to connect the wearable networkdevice 136-142 to a desired network device 12, 14, 16, 22, 24 anywhereon the cloud communications network 18.

At Step 148 a test is conducted to on the cloud advertising application26/27 on the cloud server network device 20 whether the received targetalphanumeric identifier is valid and allows a connection to the desirednetwork service.

As was discussed earlier, valid alphanumeric identifiers includes thosealphanumeric identifiers that are currently valid and connectable.Invalid alphanumeric identifiers include those that are not valid andnot connectable due to discontinuation of a network device and/or aservice to a network device and/or a disabling or an old or obsoletenetwork device, etc.

Connectable alphanumeric identifiers include those to which a device canbe immediately connected to. Un-connectable alphanumeric identifiersinclude those to which a device cannot be immediately connected to(e.g., the device is off, its battery has expired, it is out range tocommunicate with a communication network, etc.).

In one embodiment valid, connectable alphanumeric identifiers, include,but are not limited to, telephone numbers, voice-over-Internet Protocol(VoIP) identifiers including, but not limited to, SKYPE identifiers,Internet Protocol (IP) identifiers, an instant message (IM) identifier,a WiFi network identifier, a text message identifier, an e-mail addressidentifier a social network identifier, a social networking hash code(e.g., TWITTER hash code, etc.), etc. However, the present invention isnot limited to such an embodiment and more, fewer or other types ofalphanumeric identifiers can be used to practice the invention.

If the received target alphanumeric identifier is not valid, then atStep 150, the cloud advertising application 26/27 on the cloud servernetwork device 30 retrieves a pre-determined advertisement ordynamically generating an advertisement stored in a cloud storage object70 based on the received target alphanumeric identifier.

For example, if the received target network identifier was for a WiFinetwork identifier for a coffee shop, but the coffee shop's WiFi networkwas offline, the target alphanumeric identifier would be marked as notvalid.

At Step 152, a return message is sent from the cloud advertisementapplication 26/27 on the cloud server network device 20 to the wearableapplication 26/27 on wearable network device 136-142 via the cloudcommunications network 18. The return message includes a notificationthat an attempt to connect to the desired network services has failedand also includes electronic advertising information that allows thewearable application 26/27 on the wearable network device to viewdisplay the retrieved pre-determined advertisement or the dynamicallygenerated advertisement and make a selection input to automaticallyconnect to another network device 12, 14, 16, 22, 24 associated with theretrieved pre-determined or dynamically advertisement to obtainadditional electronic advertising information.

For example, if the user of the wearable network device 136-142 wastrying to connect to a WiFi network at STARBUCKS, at Step 152, theretrieved or generated advertising may include locations of otherSTARBUCKS, and/or other coffee shops (e.g., DUCAN DONUTS, MCDONALDS,etc.) in close geographical proximity to a current physical location ofthe wearable network device 136-142.

If the received target alphanumeric identifier is valid, then in FIG.11B at Step 154, the cloud advertising application 26/27 on the cloudserver network device 20 retrieves a pre-determined advertisement ordynamically generating an advertisement stored in a cloud storage object70 based on the received target alphanumeric identifier.

At Step 156, the retrieved pre-determined advertisement or dynamicallygenerated advertisement is sent from the cloud advertisement application26/27 on the cloud server network device 20 to the wearable application26′/27′ on wearable network 136-142 device via the cloud communicationsnetwork 18.

The methods and system described herein provide advertising to wearabledevices with cloud computing. However, the present invention is notlimited to cloud computing environments and the invention can also bepracticed in a non-cloud computing environment. For example, the cloudstorage objects 70 can be replaced with non-transitory computer readablemediums, and the cloud computing network 18, can be replaced with anon-cloud network (e.g., LAN, WLAN, Internet, intranet, PSTN, etc.) etc.

The methods and system described herein provide advertising to wearabledevices with cloud computing. Messages sent to an invalid alphanumericidentifier (e.g., WiFi addresses, e-mail address, text message address,social networking identifier, etc.) for a desired network service arereturned including a notification that an attempt to connect to thedesired network service has failed and/or succeeded and also includeselectronic advertising information that allows a network device to viewand display a retrieved pre-determined advertisement or the dynamicallygenerated advertisement and make a selection input to automaticallyconnect to another network device associated with the retrievedpre-determined or dynamically advertisement to obtain additionalelectronic advertising information.

It should be understood that the architecture, programs, processes,methods and systems described herein are not related or limited to anyparticular type of computer or network system (hardware or software),unless indicated otherwise. Various types of general purpose orspecialized computer systems may be used with or perform operations inaccordance with the teachings described herein.

In view of the wide variety of embodiments to which the principles ofthe present invention can be applied, it should be understood that theillustrated embodiments are exemplary only, and should not be taken aslimiting the scope of the present invention. For example, the steps ofthe flow diagrams may be taken in sequences other than those described,and more or fewer elements may be used in the block diagrams.

While various elements of the preferred embodiments have been describedas being implemented in software, in other embodiments hardware orfirmware implementations may alternatively be used, and vice-versa.

The claims should not be read as limited to the described order orelements unless stated to that effect. In addition, use of the term“means” in any claim is intended to invoke 35 U.S.C. §112, paragraph 6,and any claim without the word “means” is not so intended.

Therefore, all embodiments that come within the scope and spirit of thefollowing claims and equivalents thereto are claimed as the invention.

I claim:
 1. A method for automated intelligent advertising on wearablenetwork devices, comprising: receiving a message for a targetalphanumeric identifier on a cloud advertising application on a cloudserver network device with one or more processors from a wearableapplication on a wearable network device with one or more processors viaa cloud communications network, comprising: one or more publiccommunication networks, one or more private networks, one or morecommunity networks or one or more hybrid networks; wherein the wearablenetwork device is wearable on a person or an animal, wherein thewearable network device can contact the cloud server network device fromanywhere on the cloud computing network and wherein the targetalphanumeric identifier is used to connect the wearable network deviceto a desired network device anywhere on the cloud communicationsnetwork; determining on the cloud advertising application on the cloudserver network device whether the received target alphanumericidentifier is valid and allows a connection to the desired networkservice, and if not, retrieving on the cloud advertising application onthe cloud server network device a pre-determined advertisement ordynamically generating an advertisement stored in a cloud storage objectbased on the received target alphanumeric identifier; and sending areturn message from the cloud advertisement application on the cloudserver network device to the wearable application on wearable networkdevice via the cloud communications network, wherein the return messageincludes a notification that an attempt to connect to the desirednetwork services has failed and also includes electronic advertisinginformation that allows the wearable application on the wearable networkdevice to view and display the retrieved pre-determined advertisement orthe dynamically generated advertisement and make a selection input toautomatically connect to another network device associated with theretrieved pre-determined or dynamically generated advertisement toobtain additional electronic advertising information.
 2. Anon-transitory computer readable medium having stored therein aplurality of instructions configured for causing one or more processorson a network device to execute the steps of: receiving a message for atarget alphanumeric identifier on a cloud advertising application on acloud server network device with one or more processors from a wearableapplication on a wearable network device with one or more processors viaa cloud communications network, comprising: one or more publiccommunication networks, one or more private networks, one or morecommunity networks and one or more hybrid networks; wherein the wearablenetwork device is wearable on a person or an animal, wherein thewearable network device can contact the cloud server network device fromanywhere on the cloud computing network and wherein the targetalphanumeric identifier is used to connect the wearable network deviceto a desired network device anywhere on the cloud communicationsnetwork; determining on the cloud advertising application on the cloudserver network device whether the received target alphanumericidentifier is valid and allows a connection to the desired networkservice, and if not, retrieving on the cloud advertising application onthe cloud server network device a pre-determined advertisement ordynamically generating an advertisement stored in a cloud storage objectbased on the received target alphanumeric identifier; and sending areturn message from the cloud advertisement application on the cloudserver network device to the wearable application on wearable networkdevice via the cloud communications network, wherein the return messageincludes a notification that an attempt to connect to the desirednetwork services has failed and also includes electronic advertisinginformation that allows the wearable application on the wearable networkdevice to view and display the retrieved pre-determined advertisement orthe dynamically generated advertisement and make a selection input toautomatically connect to another network device associated with theretrieved pre-determined or dynamically generated advertisement toobtain additional electronic advertising information.
 3. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the target alphanumeric identifier include a telephonenumber, voice-over-Internet Protocol identifier, an Internet Protocolidentifier, a WiFi network identifier, an instant message identifier, atext message identifier, an e-mail address identifier, a social networkidentifier, a social networking hash code, or a combination thereof. 4.The method of claim 1 wherein the target alphanumeric identifierinitiates cable television advertising, satellite televisionadvertising, Internet television advertising, search engine servicesadvertising, social network advertising, targeted audio, video or textadvertising, or a combination thereof.
 5. The method of claim 1 whereinthe step of sending a return message includes securely sending thereturn message with a pre-determined security or encryption method. 6.The method of claim 5 wherein the pre-determined security or encryptionmethod includes a Wireless Encryption Protocol (WEP), Wireless-Wi-FiProtected Access (WPA), Robust Security Network (RSN), AdvancedEncryption Standard (AES), Data Encryption Standard (DES), Triple DataEncryption Standard (3DES), Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA), MessageDigest-5 (MD-5), Electronic Code Book (ECB), Diffie and Hellman (DH),HyperText Transport Protocol Secure, (HTTPs), Secure Sockets Layer(SSL), or a Transport Layer Security (TLS) security or encryptionmethod.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein the cloud storage objectincludes one or more of a REpresentational State Transfer (REST) orSimple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) cloud storage objects, portionsthereof, or a combination thereof.
 8. The method of claim 1 whereincloud advertising application with pre-determined and dynamicallygenerated advertising offers the cloud computing Infrastructure as acloud Service (IaaS), the cloud computing Platform, as a cloud Service(PaaS) and offers Specific advertising services for wearable devices asa cloud Service (SaaS) including a cloud software service, wherein theIaaS, PaaS and SaaS include one or more of electronic advertisingservices comprising networking, storage, server network device,virtualization, operating system, middleware, run-time, data orapplication services, or plural combinations thereof, on the cloudcommunications network.
 9. The method of claim 1 wherein the cloudcommunications network includes on-demand electronic advertisingservices, broadband network access, resource pooling, rapid elasticityand measured network services for electronic advertising services. 10.The method of claim 1 wherein the wearable network device includeswearable bracelets, clothing, fitness trackers, health trackers,glasses, jewelry and watches.
 11. The method of claim 1 wherein thecloud server network device and the wearable network device include awireless networking interface comprising a Bluetooth, Zigbee, WiFi,WPAN, Infrared, High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), H.323, H.324,Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Internet Protocol (IP), cellulartelephone, smart phone or electronic tablet wireless interface forcommunicating with the cloud communications network.
 12. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the dynamically generated advertisements includeelectronic text, audio, video, graphical or multi-media advertisementsgenerated based on a time, a date, a physical location of a specificwearable network device, a type of wearable network device, or paymentby an advertiser.
 13. The method of claim 12 wherein the physicallocation of the specific wearable network device is determined withGlobal Positioning System (GPS) location information, latitude andlongitude information, Cartesian coordinate grid information, ellipsoidcoordinate grid information, hardware address location information or IPaddress location of the specific wearable network device.
 14. The methodof claim 1 wherein the pre-determined advertisements include electronictext, audio, video, graphical or multi-media advertisements previouslystored one or more cloud storage objects on the cloud computing network.15. The method of claim 1 wherein the cloud server network devices andthe wearable network devices communicate with each other and othernetwork devices with near field communications (NFC) ormachine-to-machine (M2M) communications.
 16. The method of claim 1further comprising: determining on the cloud advertising application onthe cloud server network device whether the received target alphanumericidentifier is valid and allows a connection to the desired networkservice, and if so, retrieving on the cloud advertising application onthe cloud server network device a second pre-determined advertisement ordynamically generating a third advertisement stored in a cloud storageobject based on the received target alphanumeric identifier; and sendingthe retrieved second pre-determined advertisement or the thirddynamically generated advertisement from the cloud advertisementapplication on the cloud server network device to the wearableapplication on wearable network device via the cloud communicationsnetwork.
 17. The method of claim 1 further comprising: receiving aselection input on the cloud advertising application on the cloud servernetwork device via the cloud computing network from the wearableapplication on the wearable network device to select desired advertisingcontent on the wearable network device; and storing in the cloud storageobject from the cloud advertising application on the cloud servernetwork device results from the selection input, wherein the resultsfrom the selection input are available to a plurality of other wearablenetwork devices owned by an owner of the wearable network device andalso available to a plurality of logins owned by the owner of thewearable network device on a plurality of other server network devicesat any time from anywhere on the cloud computing network, therebyproviding a synchronization of selected and retrieved advertisinginformation via the cloud computing network across all network devicesand across all logins for the owner of the wearable network device. 18.The method of claim 17 wherein the plurality of logins includeelectronic mail logins, electronic commerce logins and social networkinglogins.
 19. A system for automatically indexing alphanumeric identifierson wearable network devices, comprising in combination: a plurality ofwearable network devices, each with one or more processors; one or moreserver network devices, each with one or more processors; a cloudcommunications network; and a non-transitory computer readable mediumhaving stored therein a plurality of instructions for causing the one ormore processors on the plurality of wearable network devices and the oneor more processors on the one or server network devices to be configuredfor: for receiving a message for a target alphanumeric identifier on acloud advertising application on a cloud server network device with oneor more processors from a wearable application on a wearable networkdevice with one or more processors via the cloud communications network,comprising: one or more public communication networks, one or moreprivate networks, one or more community networks and one or more hybridnetworks; wherein the wearable network device is wearable on a person oran animal, wherein the wearable network device can contact the cloudserver network device from anywhere on the cloud computing network andwherein the target alphanumeric identifier is used to connect thewearable network device to a desired network device anywhere on thecloud communications network; for determining on the cloud advertisingapplication on the cloud server network device whether the receivedtarget alphanumeric identifier is valid and allows a connection to thedesired network service, and if not, for retrieving on the cloudadvertising application on the cloud server network device apre-determined advertisement or dynamically generating an advertisementstored in a cloud storage object based on the received targetalphanumeric identifier; for sending a return message from the cloudadvertisement application on the cloud server network device to thewearable application on wearable network device via the cloudcommunications network, wherein the return message includes anotification that an attempt to connect to the desired network serviceshas failed and also includes electronic advertising information thatallows the wearable application on the wearable network device to viewand display the retrieved pre-determined advertisement or thedynamically generated advertisement and make a selection input toautomatically connect to another network device associated with theretrieved pre-determined or dynamically generated advertisement toobtain additional electronic advertising information; for determining onthe cloud advertising application on the cloud server network devicewhether the received target alphanumeric identifier is valid and allowsa connection to the desired network service, and if so, for retrievingon the cloud advertising application on the cloud server network devicea second pre-determined advertisement or dynamically generating a thirdadvertisement stored in a cloud storage object based on the receivedtarget alphanumeric identifier; and for sending the retrieved secondpre-determined advertisement or the third dynamically generatedadvertisement from the cloud advertisement application on the cloudserver network device to the wearable application on wearable networkdevice via the cloud communications network.